crime against nature
Americannoun
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Law. sodomy.
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any act considered to be against the laws or designs of nature or one's religious teachings.
Etymology
Origin of crime against nature
First recorded in 1920–25
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.
"This is a crime against nature," said one campaigner.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2025
To Stevens, that had been a crime against nature, deeply wrong and unforgivable.
From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2021
The fires in the Amazon remind us this is not just a crime against nature but a crime against humanity.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 25, 2019
That Bradley has never been the subject of a major biography by a writer of Krist’s caliber is the real crime against nature.
From Washington Post ● May 18, 2018
He went so far as to say that he wished to see bachelorhood punished by the law of the land as a "crime against nature."
From Married by August Strindberg
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.
