crime doesn't pay

crime | American Dictionary

crime
noun[ C/U ]
us/krɑɪm/
an action or activity that is against the law, or illegal activity generally:
[ U ]Violent crime has been reduced.
[ C ]It’s a crime to yell "fire" in a crowded theater if there isn’t one.
[ C ]If you commit a crime, you will be punished.
People say something is a crime if it is wrong:
[ Cusually sing ]It’s a crime that people go to bed hungry in this country.

crime | Business English

crime
noun
 LAWuk /kraɪm/us
[ U ]
illegal activities:
The area was plagued with failing schools, rising crime and poor healthcare.
Unemployment is associated with a rising crime rate.
crime prevention
petty/serious crime
The judicial system has been too soft on corruption and white-collar crime.
The number of cases of computer crime has continued to increase.
The new database will help in the fight against identity fraud and organized crime.
combat/tackle crimeMost local stores were involved in the initiative to tackle retail crime.
[ C ]
an illegal act:
commit a crimeThe former chief executive had committed a crime and was brought to justice.
be accused of/charged with/convicted of a crimeThe defendant is accused of a range of crimes, from fraud to embezzlement of company funds.

Examples of crime

crime
The rate of crime has reduced to zero level now.
The restriction of fingerprint collection to people already suspected of a crime reinforced the tendency to rely upon punishment rather than effective state investigation.
In other words, in refusing to attribute any role to crime, these studies are forced into the same zero-sum framework they attempt to challenge.
One problem with his conclusions derives from his use of the surviving records of convictions for indictable offences as a proxy for all crime.
Likewise, what was regarded as crime and what we would today label as tort was often equally unclear.
The poverty, disease, and crime in the new urban slums were seen as resulting from the genetic inferiority of the inhabitants.
The book, however, ranges beyond an economic history of the hamlet, to examine poverty, crime and punishment, as well as education, religion, leisure and politics.
The economics of having these inmates 'serve all' may outweigh the demands of justice and the public policy concerns related to crime prevention.
So, like its antecedent in civil rights debates, crime was linked to civil rights.
Categorizing crime is always a difficult task, but violent crimes are usually separated from those related to property or disorder.
Crime statistics show that this is the most dangerous age.
The crime attracted interest and scandal and by the second half of the eighteenth century had established a strong hold over the public imagination.
The remaining nine talk about crime (some of our elderly have become victims of crime).
For its part, the defense may (but is not obliged to) present an alternative theory of the events associated with the crime.
In addition, it developed the principles of progressive fines and punishments, and a hesitant distinction between violent and non-violent crimes.
See all examples of crime
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations withcrime

crime

These are words often used in combination with crime.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

alleged crime
The former consist only of the names of prosecutors and defendants in criminal cases, along with the allegedcrime and the verdict of the grand jury.
brutal crime
There is no doubt that we are faced with a particularly hideous and brutalcrime.
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