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Names for Crimes

Can you guess the names of these crimes described below?
All answers are a single word
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: November 14, 2018
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First submittedJanuary 23, 2013
Times taken77,204
Average score54.5%
Rating4.71
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Description
Crime
Illegal fire-starting
Arson
Intentional homicide
Murder
Mugging, for example
Robbery
Holding a person against their will
Kidnapping
Defamation in print
Libel
Spoken defamation
Slander
Lying in court
Perjury
Sneaking in and stealing something
Burglary
Having two spouses
Bigamy
Blackmail
Extortion
Hanging around too long
Loitering
Description
Crime
Illegal importation
Smuggling
Illegal hunting
Poaching
Shopping for a prostitute
Solicitation
Stealing from your employer, for example
Embezzlement
Being where you're not supposed to
Trespass
Illegal deception for personal gain
Fraud
Illegal payments in exchange for influence
Bribery
The act of betraying one's country
Treason
Physical assault
Battery
Defacing property
Vandalism
Meeting to arrange a future crime
Conspiracy
+6
Level 28
Feb 23, 2013
Great quiz!
+4
Level 67
Feb 23, 2013
Somehow, I got "burglary" last. I typed in "robbery" and "theft" about six times each before I took a breath and thought it through.
+1
Level 57
Feb 23, 2013
couldn't bigamy-having 2 spouses also be known as cheating on someone? just a suggestion.
+14
Level 61
Nov 23, 2018
Cheating and adultery aren't crimes in most countries.
+4
Level 35
Feb 23, 2013
polygamy is also having two wives...

kill is also murder

could you add these because there also crimes:

forgery

harassment

rape

shoplifting

stalking

+11
Level 77
Feb 27, 2013
poly = many. Bi = two. Kill is not the name of the crime...unless you are a big fan of Demolition Man, but even then, it's Murder Death Kill. So come on...
+4
Level 72
Apr 22, 2015
Polygamy is defined as "the practice of having more than one spouse" So it fits, just because Bi means two doesn't mean that this answer is incorrect. Polygamy, by definition, is also a correct answer to this clue.
+4
Level 65
Apr 20, 2019
It isnt wrong but it isnt right. It specifically asks for two.
+1
Level 38
Dec 14, 2020
........
+11
Level 36
Dec 14, 2020
"Kill" is not the same as "murder." One may kill another in self-defense, and it is, by definition, NOT murder.
+5
Level 79
Jul 13, 2022
Or by accident, in which case it is manslaughter.
+2
Level 31
Aug 2, 2013
There really should be more acceptable answers. Theft and breaking and entering would be handy.
+9
Level 85
Dec 4, 2014
"Breaking and entering" is 3 words.
+4
Level 65
Apr 20, 2019
Ah, i tried that one aswell, didnt realize it was only one word (i usually read the description, but didnt think there could be much that needed description with this one) now i know why it wasnt accepted
+13
Level 65
Apr 28, 2020
Excuse me.

breakingandentering

+1
Level 58
Jul 16, 2022
My English class always taught that hyphenated words count as one.

E.G. twenty-two is one word as opposed to two

So.... breaking-and-entering is one word then?

+1
Level 24
Jun 28, 2023
"If you accept the definition that a word is some letters surrounded by a gap, then 'xnopyt', 'aaaaaaajjjjjjjjj' and 'breaking-and-entering' are all words."

You can't just add hyphens and call it a new word.

+4
Level 84
Mar 26, 2014
I couldn't get the Hamburgler out of my head for some reason.
+2
Level 74
Jun 24, 2014
I tried premeditated murder, capital murder, 1st degree murder, but missed it because I never tried just "Murder". 2nd degree murder is not necessarily intentional. Often it is in the heat of the moment and the person does not really intend to kill anyone. So, intentional homicide can't just be called murder. 2nd degree can be Unintentional. Good quiz.
+7
Level 57
Apr 22, 2015
Definition: Second-degree murder is ordinarily defined as: an intentional killing that is not premeditated or planned, nor committed in a reasonable "heat of passion". Thus making it "intentional homicide". I believe unintentional homicide is called manslaughter, making it a different crime than murder, and murder being perfectly acceptable as an all encompassing answer.
+2
Level 50
Apr 22, 2015
Could you maybe accept a few alternate spellings for "perjury"?
+3
Level 77
Apr 22, 2021
Why? That's how you spell the word. How else would you spell that word that wouldn't look ridiculous? lol
+2
Level 72
Apr 12, 2023
I think it combined with purgatory in my head to become purgery haha
+19
Level 66
Apr 22, 2015
Penalty for bigamy = complete second set of in-laws
+1
Level 38
Dec 14, 2020
.....
+1
Level 5
Apr 22, 2015
Great test all were accurate
+8
Level 65
Apr 22, 2015
different. good, thanks. picky but pls accept "kidnap" without the -ing like you do for "trepass"
+2
Level 65
Apr 20, 2019
I think it allready accepted just tres... which was annoying.,
+2
Level 47
Apr 22, 2015
Solicitation is a crime? Really?
+5
Level 84
Apr 22, 2015
Depends on what country, state or county you are in.
+1
Level 69
Jun 1, 2017
Yeah, I almost missed that one thinking "I don't know - that's not illegal here". Nor should it be anywhere, but that's just my opinion. :)
+4
Level 38
Dec 14, 2020
yeah, why would it not be?
+3
Level 81
Apr 22, 2015
In the UK Slander & Libel are civil wrongs ,ie. 'torts', not criminal offences. Is it different in the US?
+4
Level 60
Jul 13, 2022
as is trespass
+4
Level 56
Apr 22, 2015
Can you accept "Kidnap"
+4
Level 57
Apr 22, 2015
Could you also accept 'larceny' for theft?
+3
Level 57
Apr 22, 2015
I feel like blackmail could also be "coercion".
+1
Level 77
Apr 23, 2015
I thought payola should be accepted for bribery, but I understand that it's not precisely the same.
+1
Level 52
Oct 5, 2015
10th grade business law helped!
+2
Level 78
Oct 12, 2016
To those asking for kidnap to be accepted - the offence is defined (in all legal codes of which I am aware, and certainly in the UK and the US) as 'kidnapping'. The word 'kidnap' is occasionally used in legal journals, and even government documents, to refer to the laws concerning abduction generally, but the statutes and common law offences (and therefore the indictment) always refer to 'kidnapping'.

To ask for 'kidnap' to be accepted is like asking for 'Solicit' or 'Burgle' (or, conversely 'Murdering')

So, the Quizmaster is entirely correct in refusing to allow kidnap.

I agree with kdc4 - robbery and mugging require force or its threat whereas theft does not. Therefore theft should NOT be accepted.

@BazMcHat - unless it has changed since I left UK law school 30 years ago, libel IS a criminal offence in the UK (whereas slander is not). Both are torts (as indeed are most crimes).

Despite all the above, I only got 4 as I couldn't think of Poaching.

+2
Level 23
Oct 24, 2016
Love the quiz! Can you add more, please? :D
+9
Level 66
May 28, 2017
I missed 50% of these. I only got correct those that I have committed.
+2
Level 38
Dec 14, 2020
.........
+1
Level 12
Jun 1, 2017
Robbery and burglary are technically the same thing
+5
Level 78
Jun 1, 2017
Not in the UK at least. Robbery is theft with violence whereas burglary is theft with trespass.
+3
Level 58
Jul 13, 2022
The definition's actually wider than that in the UK - burglary is trespass with intent to commit theft, assault or criminal damage. The trespass can be of a part of the building where you're not entitled to be.

So if you go behind the counter at KFC to throw onion rings at the staff, you're technically guilty of burglary. And who among us can say we haven't been tempted?

+3
Level 75
Jun 1, 2017
They aren't in the US, either. However definitions differ from state to state. For example, in Missouri, a charge of First Degree Burglary requires that someone who is armed, unlawfully enters or remains in a structure where another person is present who is not involved in the burglary. Second Degree Burglary is simply unlawfully entering a building with the intent to commit a crime. Second Degree Robbery is forcibly taking property and causing physical injury, while First Degree Robbery is forcibly stealing property while either seriously injuring another, having a deadly weapon, displaying a real or fake weapon, threatening another with a weapon, or stealing controlled substances from a pharmacy. Unless QM wanted to list all the definitions from each state and country, he did fine with the quiz the way it is.
+1
Level 36
Dec 14, 2020
It's interesting that you cite Missouri for all of those definitions, and I completely agree with your assessment. However, here in the Ozarks, the ultimate designation for those committing such acts is..."the recently deceased."
+1
Level 49
Jun 1, 2017
Wouldn't holding someone against their will be false imprisonment? Isn't kidnapping moving someone against their will?
+2
Level 58
Jul 13, 2022
it could be false imprisonment and I was going to make that point till I saw the requirement for single words. Same goes for defacing property. Under English law, that's called criminal damage.
+1
Level 65
Jul 13, 2022
False Imprisonment or Criminal Confinement meet the given clue better than kidnapping, I agree.
+1
Level 48
Jun 1, 2017
Trespass isn't a crime in the United Kingdom. Maybe specify that this is for US crimes?
+3
Level 60
Jun 1, 2017
It can be. Mostly it's a tort and therefore a civil issue, but criminal trespass exists in the UK - Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, 1994.
+3
Level 35
Jun 1, 2017
what about abduction for kidnapping
+1
Level 56
Jun 1, 2017
For sneaking in and stealing something, could you accept breaking and entering as a possible answer?
+1
Level 57
Jul 22, 2022
Read the caveats
+3
Level 46
Jun 1, 2017
Blackmail and extortion are two different things. Doesn't make sense to use blackmail as a description for extortion or vice versa.
+1
Level 66
Jun 1, 2017
For fraud, I was thinking identity theft, but I forgot it can only be 1 word.
+3
Level 68
Sep 22, 2017
Embezzlement seemed a little vague from the clue
+3
Level 61
Nov 23, 2018
Agreed. Embezzlement is a financial crime. Not all stealing from your employer is embezzlement. You can't embezzle pens from your office.
+16
Level 79
Feb 25, 2019
try stopping me
+2
Level 65
Apr 20, 2019
Haha
+2
Level 37
Apr 21, 2019
^ +1 - Taking a pen or a ream of paper is simple theft, not embezzlement. Embezzlement means appropriating money that is not yours, such as altering the books to conceal your embezzlement, breaking open the company safe or stealing and cashing checks made out to your boss or forging his signature to obtain funds from the company's bank account..
+3
Level 36
Apr 21, 2020
Completely agree. Embezzlement had an incorrect description. The description had me thinking of employees taking home a few office supplies. The clue should make mention of misappropriation of money as your own. This really should be corrected.
+1
Level 65
Jul 13, 2022
Only one I missed. Tried theft, conversion, misappropriation, probably should have gotten to embezzlement but I gave up.
+1
Level 65
Apr 20, 2019
Never heard of libel. Perjury isnt ringing as big a bell as it should. I kept thinking of other words like mutany and forgery. Tough in another language when you know the time is ticking
+1
Level 76
Apr 20, 2019
I think vagrancy should be accepted alongside loitering
+2
Level 37
Apr 21, 2019
A vagrant is someone who has set up house illegally (on the streets or in an abandoned building for example), while a loiterer is someone who frequents any particular location (like hanging out on corner, watching all the girls go by) for either nefarious purposes (to "case" a building, for example) or simply to annoy.
+1
Level 57
Apr 21, 2019
I think "libel" and "slander" are torts, not crimes.
+1
Level 45
Apr 21, 2019
this was a great one! I wouldn't mind another, although it might be hard to find.
+2
Level 74
Apr 21, 2019
For bigamy, can you accept polygamy as well?
+1
Level 37
Apr 21, 2019
s sated previously, BIgamy is two wives; POLYgamy is many wives. While Bigamy is technically polygamy, the word would not exist if it did not specifically meant to refer to two, rather than many.
+2
Level 74
Apr 28, 2020
I don't buy that, having 2 wives could be described as either, so either should be accepted. And in most cases only polygamy is used because it doesn't unnecessarily restrict the scope of the crime.
+1
Level 75
Apr 29, 2020
However, if you guys want to get that technical, I believe the question asks for having two spouses, and Bigamy specifically means two wives. I believe there is a different word for multiple spouses and thus, bigamy is technically incorrect.
+2
Level 36
Dec 14, 2020
If we wanted to get EXTREMELY technical, "bigamy," and "polygamy" both refer to having two, or many WIVES. The question asked about "spouses," and those women guilty of "polyandry" have multiple husbands.
+1
Level 42
Jan 18, 2021
Sated=freudian slip? ;-)
+10
Level 38
Feb 3, 2020
I gotta crime: I break into Tiffany's at midnight. Do I go for the vault? No, I go for the chandelier. It's priceless. As I'm taking it down, a woman catches me. She tells me to stop. It's her father's business. She's Tiffany. I say no. We make love all night. In the morning, the cops come and I escape in one of their uniforms. I tell her to meet me in Mexico, but I go to Canada. I don't trust her. Besides, I like the cold. Thirty years later, I get a postcard. I have a son and he's the chief of police. This is where the story gets interesting. I tell Tiffany to meet me in Paris by the Trocadero. She's been waiting for me all these years. She's never taken another lover. I don't care. I don't show up. I go to Berlin. That's where I stashed the chandelier.
+2
Level 65
Jul 13, 2022
Burglary, theft, resisting law enforcement, impersonating a law enforcement officer, and felony non-support of a dependent are the only ones I'm seeing. Although choosing a chandelier stashed in Germany over marrying into the Tiffany fortune is clearly your dumbest move.
+1
Level 36
Apr 21, 2020
I thin the definition for trespass needs some work. Being where you don't belong is much to vague and doesn't really fit the crime.
+2
Level 37
Apr 27, 2020
Great quiz! Could you please consider multiple spellings for perjury? I tried everything from purjery to purgery and perjory, but somehow never landed on the correct spelling.
+3
Level 88
Apr 28, 2020
I wonder how many of these Trump is guilty of? Gotta be at least one.
+1
Level 78
Apr 28, 2020
Got robbery by typing theft, but missed burglary.
+1
Level 60
Apr 28, 2020
Please accept "bribe" and "bribing" for bribery.
+4
Level 67
Apr 28, 2020
Some of these are a little off. "Burglary" is not just sneaking in and stealing something. That's theft. "Burglary" is breaking in to the property of another with the intent to commit a felony therein (the most common felony in that instance is theft, hence the common misperception, but you can commit burlgary via arson, murder, battery, etc.). You should accept "imprisonment" as an alternative answer for the kidnapping clue. "Kidnapping" requires that you actually abduct someone before holding them against their will. "Imprisonment" more precisely fits the clue (for example, someone comes to your home willingly, but you refuse to let them leave -- that's imprisonment but not kidnapping). "Physical assault" is contradictory as a legal term. "Assault" is conduct that *threatens* physical harm. Once you actually hit someone, it's no longer assault. It's battery. "Physically harming another" would be better.
+1
Level 56
Apr 28, 2020
Could you accept just "kidnap"?
+1
Level 65
Apr 29, 2020
This was a harder quiz than other ones
+3
Level 71
Apr 29, 2020
Depending on how hard you hit someone, I guess there are different types of battery: AA, AAA, etc.
+1
Level 71
Apr 29, 2020
Damn current events. I could only think of quid pro quo for bribery.
+2
Level 50
May 2, 2020
What a world we live in, when the president of the US has done several of these...
+1
Level 41
May 23, 2020
dang I kept typing in poligamy.
+5
Level 73
Aug 1, 2020
Burglary is trespass with the intent to commit a felony within the premises. The felony does not need to be theft, although that is the most common. Note that burglary requires ‘intent’ only; there is typically no requirement that the felony actually be committed (requirements vary slightly by state). However, burglary is always punished more severely than theft when the stolen goods are the same value.

Robbery is theft using violence or the threat of violence. The penalties are much more severe than mere theft. If you stole a $100 watch, you might not even get jail time. But point a gun at someone and steal an identical watch, and you’re likely looking at years in prison.

TL;DR: The terms ‘burglary’, ‘robbery’, and ‘theft’ are literally different crimes, with different requirements and very different sentences. Burglary doesn’t require theft; theft cannot include violence; and robbers must use violence. They are not interchangeable.

P.S. I’m a lawyer; we nitpick professionally.

+1
Level 65
Jul 13, 2022
I would also point out that, historically, and even as recently as when I started practice, burglary typically included that the building or structure into which one gained unauthorized access with the intent to commit a felony be a "dwelling". This made sense that burglary, carrying stiffer penalties than theft in most jurisdictions, involve the violation of one's home. You accurately state that most jurisdictions have watered that down to include any building or structure and even in some jurisdictions include businesses open to the public during business hours as to anyone who's ever been "banned" from such store. Just the logical fallout of our great plutocracy; corporate rights and individual burdens are expanding while corporate burdens and individual rights are contracting.
+1
Level 55
Aug 24, 2020
Please add kidnap as a legal answer
+3
Level 47
Sep 25, 2020
Holding someone against their will would be false imprisonment. Kidnapping is taking someone against their will
+1
Level 56
Sep 25, 2020
Polygamy for Bigamy?
+1
Level 64
Apr 4, 2021
I wouldn’t mind if you made more of these, they were kind of entertaining.
+1
Level 63
Sep 24, 2021
It would be helpful if you specified these are US terms. For example, under Scottish law, there is no such term as arson. The equivalent here is the much more descriptive term, 'wilful fire-raising'
+1
Level 57
Jul 22, 2022
It is two words, so it's not an answer irregardless of US terms or not.
+2
Level 75
May 1, 2022
Any reason why trespass does not contain the "-ing" like some of the others?

Very fun quiz. I was surprised not to see larceny on there.

+2
Level 56
May 7, 2022
OH COME ON I DID VANDALIZE AND ROBBING
+3
Level 74
Jul 13, 2022
Let's hope they're your first offences.
+1
Level 54
Jul 13, 2022
Polygamy should also be accepted, as it means having more than one wife.
+1
Level 33
Jul 13, 2022
Can we have false imprisonment for holding someone against their will? It is the English legal term for it
+1
Level 66
Jul 13, 2022
I knew a lot of this but I had difficulty spelling them due to my dyslexia.
+3
Level 58
Jul 13, 2022
The distinction given between libel and slander - in the UK at least - isn't quite right. Libel is something expressed in a permanent form and slander is in a fleeting form. So words spoken in a movie would be libel.
+1
Level 72
Jul 13, 2022
Kept waiting for one of the answers to be regicide. One of my favorite random jokes from the Simpsons: "If you know the king or queen being murdered, press one!"
+1
Level 50
Jul 13, 2022
good quiz!
+1
Level 50
Jul 13, 2022
the pedantry with whats illegal and whats a civil offence in a particular country is all pointless. Quiz is fine as it stands
+1
Level 66
Jul 13, 2022
How can be "Hanging around for too long." be illegal?
+2
Level 67
Jul 13, 2022
It's not actually hanging around too long that's the crime. Loitering is when you defy a lawful order to leave the premises. So you can stand in one place for 36 hours if you want, but if you stand there for 30 minutes, and a cop tells you to move, and you don't, you're loitering. You need to establish you have a reason to be where you are to defy their order. The law is absurd in my view, but it's misunderstood. It's not about how long you've been standing around, but whether you ignore the police's order to leave.
+2
Level 53
Jul 13, 2022
When I saw this name first, I thought it was "Names for Crimea"!
+1
Level 65
Jul 13, 2022
So did I!
+1
Level 60
Jul 13, 2022
I wasn't thinking big enough with stealing from my employer, I was thinking stapler and pens!! And I couldn't remember the arranging a future crime and all I could think of was "plotting" which seems perfectly reasonable LOL
+1
Level 43
Jul 14, 2022
Surely 'kidnap' is a good as 'kidnapping'
+2
Level 83
Jul 15, 2022
I think I commented before that I could think of someone who had committed most of the crimes on this list. Comment is gone now. Not surprising the evidence has gone missing. Obstruction of justice also on the offenders' long list of prosecutable misdeeds.
+2
Level 68
Jul 28, 2022
The police got summoned to a preschool due to a report that someone was resisting a rest. When they arrived, they became witnesses to a kid napping.
+1
Level 56
Nov 6, 2022
I think you should allow adjectives to the terms you are asking for, like bribing for bribery and conspiring for conspiracy. A lot of us don't speak english as a first language therefore we can't remember every little term.
+1
Level 43
Dec 8, 2022
theft is not the same as robbery; it should not be accepted as the answer to that one
+1
Level 40
Feb 27, 2023
I think false imprisonment would be more accurate to "holding someone against their will".
+1
Level 75
Mar 29, 2023
That is more than one word.