abettor
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of abettor
From the Anglo-French word abettour, dating back to 1505–15. See abet, -or 2
Explanation
An abettor is someone who helps another person commit a crime. If you drive the getaway car during a bank robbery, you're an abettor. If you assist someone else in doing something wrong, offering any kind of support or encouragement, you abet that person. From this verb comes the noun abettor, which is a good word for a criminal's sidekick, or the guy who holds his friend's extra spray paint while she paints graffiti on the wall of a school. The root of this word is the Old French abeter, "to bait or harass with dogs," literally "to cause to bite."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Anyone who isn’t against this drumbeat of unredressed wrong is exposed as a guilty abettor.
From Washington Post • May 30, 2020
“The aider and abettor is legally responsible for the acts of other persons that are the natural and probable consequences of the crime in which he intentionally participated.”
From Slate • Mar. 5, 2019
In the book, Starr depicts Susan McDougal — who served prison time for her conviction — as a disdainful abettor of the Clintons, a designation that baffles her to this day.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 11, 2018
The report says Rodchenkov is “an aider and abettor of the doping activities” and “at the heart of the positive drug test cover-up.”
From Washington Times • Nov. 9, 2015
At common law, an accessory implies a principal, and can not be convicted until after the conviction of the principal; the accomplice or abettor can be convicted as a principal.
From English Synonyms and Antonyms With Notes on the Correct Use of Prepositions by Fernald, James Champlin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
