offender

«offender» in Mova's school dictionary: A person who has broken the law or done a crime — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (an offender, offenders)

meaning for a pupil

1) A person who has broken the law or done a crime. tree →

2) A person or thing that causes a problem or does something wrong: «The worst offender for noise was the dog.» tree →

sense in the lessons

In law, news and citizenship lessons: «young offenders», «first-time offender», «repeat offender». In everyday talk, people joke about the «worst offender» for leaving dishes or being late. It tells the reader someone has done wrong.

examples

• The police caught the offender near the station. tree →
• Young offenders may be given community work instead of prison. tree →
• He was a first-time offender, so the judge gave him a warning. tree →
• In our house, the worst offender for leaving lights on is my brother. tree →
• Repeat offenders are people who keep breaking the law. tree →
• Fizzy drinks are the main offender for bad teeth. tree →
• The incensed deities now combined to punish the offender. tree →

note

Countable. From the verb «offend» (to break a law, or to upset someone). Related: offence (UK, Ireland, Australia) / offense (US). Use «an» before it. Trap: «offended» means upset, not the same as being an offender.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «offender» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.