criminate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to charge with a crime.
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to incriminate.
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to censure (something) as criminal; condemn.
verb
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to charge with a crime; accuse
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to condemn or censure (an action, event, etc)
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short for incriminate
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of criminate
First recorded in 1635–45; from Latin crīminātus, past participle of crīminārī “to accuse”; see origin at crime, -ate 1
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.
Recriminate, rē-krim′in-āt, v.t. to criminate or accuse in return.—v.i. to charge an accuser with a similar crime.—n.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various
"How so?" asked Leuthold quietly, believing that he had destroyed every scrap of paper that could criminate him.
From Only a Girl: or, A Physician for the Soul. by Hillern, Wilhelmine von
But they were aware that, with the exception of their own members, none could criminate them; while the probability of such an event occurring was very remote, for all were equally implicated.
From Fern Vale (Volume 3) or the Queensland Squatter by Munro, Colin
Nowadays we do not ask a prisoner to criminate himself.
From In Jail with Charles Dickens by Trumble, Alfred
They accepted, indeed, her bribes, but prudently declined to carry out their part of the agreement, well knowing that she dare not venture to criminate herself by an open rupture with them.
From Valeria The Martyr of the Catacombs by Withrow, William Henry
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.
