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# perpetrate

«perpetrate» in Mova's school dictionary: **To do something wrong, harmful or illegal, such as a…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

verb (perpetrate, perpetrates, perpetrated, perpetrating)

### meaning for a pupil

(formal) To do something wrong, harmful or illegal, such as a crime or a trick. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetrate/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In news, law and history, crimes, frauds and attacks are "perpetrated"; the person who did it is the perpetrator. It is a formal, serious word. In mystery stories, detectives find out who perpetrated the crime. Sometimes used jokingly: "Who perpetrated this terrible pun?"

### examples

- The police found who perpetrated the robbery. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetrate/#x1)
- Crimes perpetrated during wars must be investigated. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetrate/#x2)
- The trick was perpetrated by two clever boys. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetrate/#x3)
- "Who perpetrated this mess?" asked Dad. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetrate/#x4)
- The fraud was perpetrated over many years. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetrate/#x5)
- History remembers those who perpetrated great cruelty. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetrate/#x6)

### note

Formal regular verb. Person: perpetrator. Trap: do not confuse with "perpetuate" (to make something carry on). Perpetrate = commit a bad act; perpetuate = keep it going.

### Trees and pragmatics

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