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Any violation of law, either divine or human; an omission of a duty commanded, or the commission of an act forbidden by law.

Criminal; wicked; contrary to law, right, or dury. [Obs.] Shak.

the subject . . . were in some cases liable to criminal process. Hallam. Criminal action (Law), an action or suit instituted to secure conviction and punishment for a crime. -- Criminal conversation (Law), unlawful intercourse with a married woman; adultery; -- usually abbreviated, crim. con. -- Criminal law, the law…

One versed in criminal law. [R.]

In violation of law; wickedly.

to misapply; to twist. [Archaic] There is no one thing that crooks youth more than such unlawfull games. Ascham. What soever affairs pass such a man's hands, he crooketh them to his own ends. Bacon.

other and sister marry persons standing in the same relation to each other. Cross action (Law), an action brought by a party who is sued against the person who has sued him, upon the same subject matter, as upon the same contract. Burrill. -- Cross aisle (Arch.), a transept; the lateral divisions of a cruciform church…

A bar of iron with a beak, crook, or claw; a bar of iron used as a lever; a crowbar. Get me an iron crow, and bring it straight Unto my cell. Shak.

A tool with a side claw for recovering broken rods, etc. Raymond.

Milton. -- Crown land, land belonging to the crown, that is, to the sovereign. -- Crown law, the law which governs criminal prosecutions. [Eng.] -- Crown lawyer, one employed by the crown, as in criminal cases. [Eng.] -- Crown octavo. See under Paper. -- Crown office. See in the Vocabulary. -- Crown paper. See unde…

a horse, just behind the lowest part of the hock joint, generally causing lameness. James Law. Curb bit, a stiff bit having branches by which a leverage is obtained upon the jaws of horse. Knight. -- Curb pins (Horology), the pins on the regulator which restrain the hairspring. -- Curb plate (Arch.), a plate serving…

thou be current gold indeed. Shak. Account current. See under Account. -- Current money, lawful money. Abbott.

docked tail; formerly, the dog of a person not qualified to course, which, by the forest laws, must have its tail cut short, partly as a mark, and partly from a notion that the tail is necessary to a dog in running; hence, a dog not fit for sporting. Hope is a curtail dog in some affairs. Shak.

he life estate which a husband has in the lands of his deceased wife, which by the common law takes effect where he has had issue by her, born alive, and capable of inheriting the lands. Mozley & W.

ner; habitual practice; usage; method of doing or living. And teach customs which are not lawful. Acts xvi. 21. Moved beyong his custom, Gama said. Tennyson. A custom More honored in the breach than the observance. Shak.

A book containing laws and usages, or customs; as, the Customary of the Normans. Cowell.

dian; a superintendent. [Obs.] Custos rotulorum (r Etym: [LL., keeper of the rolls] (Eng. Law), the principal justice of the peace in a county, who is also keeper of the rolls and records of the sessions of the peace.

ical, surface (Geom.), a surface described by a straight line that moves according to any law, but so as to be constantly parallel to a given line. -- Cylindrical vault. (Arch.) See under Vault, n.

truments so as to conform as nearly to the intention of the parties as is consistent with law. Mozley & W.

It was either white or black, the latter being most common, and used for mourning. [Obs.] Lawn as white as driven snow, Cyprus black as e'er was crow. Shak.