51Թ

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culprit

[ kuhl-prit ]

noun

  1. a person or other agent guilty of or responsible for an offense or fault.
  2. a person arraigned for an offense.


culprit

/ ˈʌɪ /

noun

  1. law a person awaiting trial, esp one who has pleaded not guilty
  2. the person responsible for a particular offence, misdeed, etc
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of culprit1

1670–80; traditionally explained as cul (representing Latin ܱ guilty) + prit (representing Anglo-French prest ready), marking the prosecution as ready to prove the defendant's guilt. See culpable, presto
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of culprit1

C17: from Anglo-French cul-, short for culpable guilty + prit ready, indicating that the prosecution was ready to prove the guilt of the one charged
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The likely culprit, according to the scientists, was a fleet of more than 200 fishing ships that have in recent years targeted these remote waters.

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We were all taken aback but I didn't understand that I was apparently the culprit.

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It begs the question why employees are being subject to polygraph exams,which are notoriously unreliable and inadmissible in court, if DHS has already identified the culprits.

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Our gas boilers are the main culprit; lots of individual devices inefficiently burning fossil fuels to create the heat.

From

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office launched the probe to find the culprits behind the tagging of a temple with “political messages,” authorities said in a news release.

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