MISDEMEANORS

Noun

misdemeanors

plural of misdemeanor

Source: Wiktionary


MISDEMEANOR

Mis`de*mean"or, n.

1. Ill behavior; evil conduct; fault. Shak.

2. (Law)

Definition: A crime less than a felony. Wharton.

Note: As a rule, in the old English law, offenses capitally punishable were felonies; all other indictable offenses were misdemeanors. In common usage, the word crime is employed to denote the offenses of a deeper and more atrocious dye, while small faults and omissions of less consequence are comprised under the gentler name of misdemeanors. Blackstone. The distinction, however, between felonies and misdemeanors is purely arbitrary, and is in most jurisdictions either abrogated or so far reduced as to be without practical value. Cf. Felony. Wharton.

Syn.

– Misdeed; misconduct; misbehavior; fault; trespass; transgression.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

4 April 2025

GUILLOTINE

(verb) kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine; “The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country”


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Coffee Trivia

In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.

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