Phrasal Verbs, Crime, and Legal Vocabulary

Essential Phrasal Verbs

• Set off - Start a journey
• Hand over - Give something to someone officially
• Share out - Divide something between people
• Move out - Leave your home permanently for a new home
• Set up - Establish/start something
• Spring up - Appear or develop quickly
• Come up against - Be faced with or opposed by something
• Put up - Build or erect something

Crime and Legal Vocabulary

General Terms

• Curfew - Time when someone is not allowed to leave their home.
• Witnesses - People who saw something happen and can give evidence.
• Disorderly conduct - Violent or noisy behavior in public.

Court and Legal Proceedings

• Juries - Group of people who listen to court cases and decide on a punishment.
• Judge - A person in court who has the authority to decide a punishment.
• Courts - Places where criminals are judged.
• Admit - Say that you committed a crime.
• Sentence - Say officially what punishment someone will receive.
• Young offender - Person who commits a crime under 18.
• Commit a crime - Do something breaking the laws.
• Defendant - The accused person (who may not have lawyers).
• Lawyers - Person who defends the accused person in a court.
• Attorney - A person legally appointed or empowered to act for another.

Crimes

• Shoplifting - Stealing something from a shop.
• Vandalism - Damaging public property.
• Petty theft - Stealing something of little value.
• Underage drinking - Drinking illegally because you are not old enough.
• Burglary - Stealing from a house (breaking in).
• Mugging - Attacking someone, often with a weapon (gun/knife), and stealing from them in the street.
• Murder - Killing a person.
• Arson - Setting fire to something illegally.
• Joyriding - Driving around in a stolen vehicle.

Punishments and Actions

• Pay a fine - Pay money as a punishment.
• Jury service - Serve on a jury in another case, as a punishment.
• Get a criminal record - Official documentation held by the police department about someone's crimes.
• Repeat offenses - Committing the same crime more than once.
• A life sentence - Being sent to prison for life.
• Suspect - Someone who is accused of a crime.
• Arrest somebody - Take someone to the police department.
• Dismiss a case - When there is insufficient evidence and the case is dropped.
• Police officer - Someone who works in a police department.
• Reach a verdict - Decide if the accused is guilty or not.
• Send somebody to prison - Sentence someone to prison.
• House arrest - Measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to a certain residence.