Names for Crimes

Can you guess the names of these crimes described below?

All answers are a single word

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Last updated: November 14, 2018

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First submitted	January 23, 2013
Times taken	94,135
Average score	54.5%
Rating	4.68

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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

Level 28

Feb 23, 2013

Great quiz!

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.

Level 57

Feb 23, 2013

couldn't bigamy-having 2 spouses also be known as cheating on someone? just a suggestion.

+22

Level 62

Nov 23, 2018

Cheating and adultery aren't crimes in most countries.

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

+19

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...

Level 73

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.

Level 65

Apr 20, 2019

It isnt wrong but it isnt right. It specifically asks for two.

Level 38

Dec 14, 2020

........

+16

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.

Level 80

Jul 13, 2022

Or by accident, in which case it is manslaughter.

Level 59

Nov 14, 2023

whats wrong with guys laughing?

Level 31

Aug 2, 2013

There really should be more acceptable answers. Theft and breaking and entering would be handy.

+12

Level 84

Dec 4, 2014

"Breaking and entering" is 3 words.

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

+22

Level 65

Apr 28, 2020

Excuse me.

breakingandentering

Level 59

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?

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.

Level 84

Mar 26, 2014

I couldn't get the Hamburgler out of my head for some reason.

Level 75

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.

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.

Level 50

Apr 22, 2015

Could you maybe accept a few alternate spellings for "perjury"?

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

Level 76

Apr 12, 2023

I think it combined with purgatory in my head to become purgery haha

+21

Level 66

Apr 22, 2015

Penalty for bigamy = complete second set of in-laws

Level 38

Dec 14, 2020

.....

Level 5

Apr 22, 2015

Great test all were accurate

+10

Level 65

Apr 22, 2015

different. good, thanks. picky but pls accept "kidnap" without the -ing like you do for "trepass"

Level 65

Apr 20, 2019

I think it allready accepted just tres... which was annoying.,

Level 47

Apr 22, 2015

Solicitation is a crime? Really?

Level 84

Apr 22, 2015

Depends on what country, state or county you are in.

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. :)

Level 38

Dec 14, 2020

yeah, why would it not be?

Level 81

Apr 22, 2015

In the UK Slander & Libel are civil wrongs ,ie. 'torts', not criminal offences. Is it different in the US?

Level 60

Jul 13, 2022

as is trespass

Level 73

Nov 16, 2023

Yes, under US federal law they are torts. But there may be some states where these are crimes per se, making them technically valid inclusions since the instructions don't specify the jurisdiction.

Level 56

Apr 22, 2015

Can you accept "Kidnap"

Level 57

Apr 22, 2015

Could you also accept 'larceny' for theft?

Level 57

Apr 22, 2015

I feel like blackmail could also be "coercion".

Level 77

Apr 23, 2015

I thought payola should be accepted for bribery, but I understand that it's not precisely the same.

Level 52

Oct 5, 2015

10th grade business law helped!

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.

Level 23

Oct 24, 2016

Love the quiz! Can you add more, please? :D

+12

Level 66

May 28, 2017

I missed 50% of these. I only got correct those that I have committed.

Level 38

Dec 14, 2020

.........

Level 68

Nov 14, 2023

Do you have 100% by now? You've had 6 more years.

Level 12

Jun 1, 2017

Robbery and burglary are technically the same thing

Level 78

Jun 1, 2017

Not in the UK at least. Robbery is theft with violence whereas burglary is theft with trespass.

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?

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.

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."

Level 84

Nov 18, 2023

In my part of the world, robbery is stealing from someone with their knowledge and against their will (e.g., a mugging), whereas burglary is doing it covertly (sneaking in someone's house).

Level 51

Jun 1, 2017

Wouldn't holding someone against their will be false imprisonment? Isn't kidnapping moving someone against their will?

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.

Level 66

Jul 13, 2022

False Imprisonment or Criminal Confinement meet the given clue better than kidnapping, I agree.

Level 48

Jun 1, 2017

Trespass isn't a crime in the United Kingdom. Maybe specify that this is for US crimes?

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.

Level 35

Jun 1, 2017

what about abduction for kidnapping

Level 57

Jun 1, 2017

For sneaking in and stealing something, could you accept breaking and entering as a possible answer?

Level 59

Jul 22, 2022

Read the caveats

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.

Level 67

Jun 1, 2017

For fraud, I was thinking identity theft, but I forgot it can only be 1 word.

Level 69

Sep 22, 2017

Embezzlement seemed a little vague from the clue

Level 62

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.

+18

Level 80

Feb 25, 2019

try stopping me

Level 65

Apr 20, 2019

Haha

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..

Level 37

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.

Level 66

Jul 13, 2022

Only one I missed. Tried theft, conversion, misappropriation, probably should have gotten to embezzlement but I gave up.

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

Level 76

Apr 20, 2019

I think vagrancy should be accepted alongside loitering

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.

Level 61

Apr 21, 2019

I think "libel" and "slander" are torts, not crimes.

Level 45

Apr 21, 2019

this was a great one! I wouldn't mind another, although it might be hard to find.

Level 75

Apr 21, 2019

For bigamy, can you accept polygamy as well?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Level 41

Jan 18, 2021

Sated=freudian slip? ;-)

+11

Level 37

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.

Level 66

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.

Level 37

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.

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.

Level 89

Apr 28, 2020

I wonder how many of these Trump is guilty of? Gotta be at least one.

Level 78

Apr 28, 2020

Got robbery by typing theft, but missed burglary.

Level 60

Apr 28, 2020

Please accept "bribe" and "bribing" for bribery.

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.

Level 56

Apr 28, 2020

Could you accept just "kidnap"?

Level 65

Apr 29, 2020

This was a harder quiz than other ones

Level 72

Apr 29, 2020

Depending on how hard you hit someone, I guess there are different types of battery: AA, AAA, etc.

Level 71

Apr 29, 2020

Damn current events. I could only think of quid pro quo for bribery.

Level 50

May 2, 2020

What a world we live in, when the president of the US has done several of these...

Level 41

May 23, 2020

dang I kept typing in poligamy.

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.

Level 66

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.

Level 55

Aug 24, 2020

Please add kidnap as a legal answer

Level 47

Sep 25, 2020

Holding someone against their will would be false imprisonment. Kidnapping is taking someone against their will

Level 56

Sep 25, 2020

Polygamy for Bigamy?

Level 65

Apr 4, 2021

I wouldn’t mind if you made more of these, they were kind of entertaining.

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'

Level 59

Jul 22, 2022

It is two words, so it's not an answer irregardless of US terms or not.

Level 76

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.

Level 56

May 7, 2022

OH COME ON I DID VANDALIZE AND ROBBING

Level 75

Jul 13, 2022

Let's hope they're your first offences.

Level 55

Jul 13, 2022

Polygamy should also be accepted, as it means having more than one wife.

Level 33

Jul 13, 2022

Can we have false imprisonment for holding someone against their will? It is the English legal term for it

Level 66

Jul 13, 2022

I knew a lot of this but I had difficulty spelling them due to my dyslexia.

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.

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!"

Level 50

Jul 13, 2022

good quiz!

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

Level 66

Jul 13, 2022

How can be "Hanging around for too long." be illegal?

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.

Level 53

Jul 13, 2022

When I saw this name first, I thought it was "Names for Crimea"!

Level 65

Jul 13, 2022

So did I!

Level 61

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

Level 43

Jul 14, 2022

Surely 'kidnap' is a good as 'kidnapping'

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.

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.

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.

Level 43

Dec 8, 2022

theft is not the same as robbery; it should not be accepted as the answer to that one

Level 40

Feb 27, 2023

I think false imprisonment would be more accurate to "holding someone against their will".

Level 75

Mar 29, 2023

That is more than one word.

Level 29

Oct 30, 2023

thank god for law and order, wouldn't have gotten perjury, extortion or solicitation without it.

Level 84

Nov 14, 2023

"Crime doesn't pay - except for some of the white collar ones."

And the Lufthansa heist. And the British Bank of the Mideast robbery. And the Northern Bank robbery. Etc.

Level 63

Nov 14, 2023

"Tresspass" should be accepted as a type-in

Level 46

Nov 14, 2023

Or you should learn to spell.

Level 46

Nov 14, 2023

How did I forget fraud? Agh.

Level 53

Nov 16, 2023

Couldn't we take "vandalize" for vandalism?

Level 68

Nov 23, 2023

I once illegally hunted an egg. It was delicious.

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