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# malpractice

«malpractice» in Mova's school dictionary: **When a doctor, lawyer or other professional does their…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (malpractice, uncountable; malpractices – rare)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (law) When a doctor, lawyer or other professional does their job very badly or carelessly, and someone is harmed because of it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malpractice/#m1)

2) (formal) Wrong or dishonest behaviour in a job, such as cheating in exams or misusing money. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malpractice/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In news and adult life, «medical malpractice» means a doctor's serious mistake that harms a patient, and the patient may take them to court. In schools in the UK, «exam malpractice» means cheating in exams, like copying or having a phone in the exam room; it can cancel your results. Phrases: «medical malpractice», «exam malpractice», «sued for malpractice».

### examples

- Taking a phone into an exam counts as malpractice. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malpractice/#x1)
- The hospital investigated a case of malpractice. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malpractice/#x2)
- The doctor was sued for malpractice after the wrong operation. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malpractice/#x3)
- Exam malpractice can mean losing all your marks for that subject. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malpractice/#x4)
- The lawyer was accused of malpractice for losing the client's money. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malpractice/#x5)
- Our teacher read out the rules about exam malpractice. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malpractice/#x6)
- Most doctors are very careful, and malpractice is rare. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malpractice/#x7)
- Copying from a friend's paper is malpractice. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malpractice/#x8)

### note

Usually uncountable: «some malpractice», «a case of malpractice». «Mal-» means bad. It is a formal word. Not the same as an ordinary mistake: malpractice means a professional did not take proper care. Not a maths word.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «malpractice» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/malpractice/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.