perp

1 of 2

noun

: a perpetrator especially of a crime

perp

2 of 2

abbreviation

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
No perp walk resulted from allegations presented to the unit, including that aerial objects flipped votes; that election workers scrubbed hard drives; and that satellites under the control of the Italian military penetrated vote-counting machines. Yvonne Wingett Sanchez And Isaac Stanley-becker, Anchorage Daily News, 22 Feb. 2023 Police could one day comb security camera footage and identify a perp by how his voice gonged against a glass of water. Sarah Scoles, Discover Magazine, 25 Nov. 2014 Reporters gathered outside an N.Y.P.D. precinct house in Chinatown, where Abdullah had been taken for a perp walk. Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 14 Jan. 2023 When Huffman finally did show up and stepped out of her vehicle, accompanied by her husband William Macy and a clutch of lawyers, the twenty-yard walk to the entrance of the courthouse was like a red carpet perp walk. Nicole Laporte, Town & Country, 4 Jan. 2023 Thanks to a group at the University of Dundee in the UK, that’s enough information to positively ID the perp. Nayanah Siva, Discover Magazine, 12 May 2017 Forty-eight hours later, Flora’s perp had a name: Streptococcus intermedius, an agent that normally lives in the mouth and intestine. Claire Panosian Dunavan, Discover Magazine, 16 June 2020 The Patriots, never too timid to take on problem children, have been mercifully absent perp walks of late. Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Nov. 2022 Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to bother Present, who’s touched by Kimberly’s personal reflections and surprised to discover she’s the first person other than a perp who can actually see and hear him. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Nov. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'perp.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1968, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of perp was in 1968

Dictionary Entries Near perp

Cite this Entry

“Perp.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perp. Accessed 26 Mar. 2023.

Legal Definition

perp

noun
: a perpetrator of a crime

More from Merriam-Webster on perp

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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