Have your ever been the victim of a crime?
Have you ever witnessed a crime?
Have you ever committed a crime?
The world of crime has much specialised vocabulary. On this page you will learn the meaning of the verbs, nouns and adjectives which we associate with crime.
This should help you to understand newspaper and TV news reports on crime.
Crime (noun) is any illegal action or activity. For example, killing your boss is a crime (even if he is a terrible person)!
Crime is never used as a verb. We say 'commit a crime'. Commit is the verb that collocates with 'crime': It basically means 'do'.
'He was sent to prison for a crime that he didn't commit.'
A person who commits a crime is a criminal:
'A dangerous criminal escaped from prison.'
Criminal is also used as an adjective:
'There is a lot of criminal activity in this area.'
What’s the difference between rob and steal?
Rob (verb) means take something from a place or person.
'Rob a bank.' Money is taken from the bank, not the whole thing.
'Rob and old man.' Valuable items are taken from him, we do not take him.
Steal (verb) means to take something.
'I stole candy when I was a child.'
'My bag was stolen at the party.'
Steal = present tense / stole = past simple / stolen = past participle
Theft is the noun form for the verb steal.
A thief is the general name we give to someone who steals something.
Types of crime and types of criminal
Arson - the crime of starting a fire in order to damage or destroy something, especially a building.
Arsonist – a person who starts fires to damage or destroy something
Bank robbery (noun) – the crime of stealing money from a bank.
Bank robber – the person who steals from a bank.
Rob – verb
Burglary (noun) – the crime of stealing from a building.
Burglar – a person who steals from a building.
Burgle -verb
Manslaughter (noun) - the crime of killing a person by someone who did not intend to do it or who cannot be responsible for their actions.
Murder (noun) – the crime of killing someone.
Murderer – a person who kills.
Murder – verb
Mugging (noun) – an act of attacking someone and stealing their money.
Mugger – the person who attacks someone to steal their money.
Mug – verb
Shoplifting (noun) – taking something from a shop without paying for it.
Shoplifter – a person who steals from shops.
Shoplift - verb
Smuggling (noun) - the act of taking things or people to or from a place secretly and illegally.
Smuggler – the person who takes things or people to or from a place secretly and illegally.
Smuggle - verb
Pickpocketing (noun) – the act of stealing things out of pockets or bags secretly.
Pickpocket - a person who steals things out of pockets or bags secretly.
Pickpocket - verb
Other people associated with crime
Victim – a person who a crime happens to.
'The criminal stole the victim's car.'
Witness – a person who saw a crime happen.
'Many witnesses saw the bank robber leaving the bank.'
Reading: wedding and vocabulary match exercise
- The ___ was arrested by police who caught him hiding in his garden.
- It looks like he is trying to ___ that umbrella.
- The man was ___ as he walked home late at night.
- My watch has been ___.
- She tried to ___ drugs in her suitcase from Toronto to Seattle.
- The ___ was caught with the CDs in his bag while he was still in the shop.
- It looks like he is trying to ___ that umbrella.
Comments
Very important lesson
If I see the CNN or BCC, some words I can't understand them .
I love this Language. Anas Legend
crime vocabulary
I have finished the target first time .It teaches me new word relating ot crime
Good lesson~ Thanks a lot^^
Good lesson~
Thanks a lot^^
easy no problem bye next
little easy lesson, but very interesting
who a
Victim – a person who(m) a crime happens to.
'The criminal stole the victims car.'--> victim's car
vague
"Police are trying to catch the ___ who set fire to the school.
Correct!" --> I'm not sure but I think not(set fire to...) but (set fire the school).
very useful!
Great lesson, Chris! That clarified some things for me and I learned a new use of the word MUG which I only use in the following context: "A mug of beer, please!"
NO CRIME
I hate all these crime words:(
some words of crime seem so
some words of crime seem so similar that I think I need a long practice not to confuse them after
Crime vocabulary
You have so many different names of crime in your language, aren't you? For example, in my language we have the only one name for robber, burglar and mugger. But we have informal nicknames for them. I can't think of the analogous word for shoplifter in my native language, we simply call it "thief". Thank you for you useful lesson, I'll try to remember and use them, but I'd better keep away from something related to crime
Facebook posts lead to bank robbery arrests
For several individuals, sharing is second nature. Revealing everything on Facebook, at times, feels all too natural. One group of young bank robbers shared their exploits on Facebook. This revealing, however, led to them all being arrested. An anonymous tip told police about the Facebook postings. The postings were then used as evidence to arrest the bank robbers.