Crime

an act or an omission punishable by law. An offense, however repugnant to a sense of right and wrong, is not a crime until the law makes it so. In the full legal sense a crime is any offense against the law; but violations of local ordinances, subject to fines only, are not regarded usually as crimes. A capital crime is a crime punishable by death. Murder, piracy, and treason are the capital crimes of most governments. Crimes punishable by death and those punishable by imprisonment in a penitentiary are ordinarily called felonies. Offenses below the rank of felonies are known as misdemeanors. High crimes are felonies; petty crimes are misdemeanors. See Capital Punishment; Penitentiary; Treason; Arson