misdemeanor : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: misdemeanor	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for misdemeanor
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
misdemeanor n a crime less serious than a felony [syn: misdemeanor, misdemeanour, infraction, violation, infringement]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Misdemeanor \Mis`de*mean"or\, n. 1. Ill behavior; evil conduct; fault. --Shak. 2. (Law) 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.