Meaning & use
a homicide
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Meanings
nouncountablelegallaw
The act of killing another person, especially when this is a crime.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a homicide, two homicides, several homicides.
Patterns
- commit a homicide
- investigate a homicide
- be charged with homicide
The police are treating his death as a homicide.
She was arrested and charged with homicide after the fight.
The city recorded fewer homicides last year than the year before.
noununcountableAmericaninformal
The police department or unit that investigates killings.
Grammar: Used without 'a' or a plural when it means the department or the work: he works in homicide.
Patterns
- work in homicide
- the homicide department
After ten years on patrol, he moved to homicide.
Homicide is handling the case, so call them if you have information.
Word forms
| plural | homicides |
|---|
Common combinations
- commit a homicide
- A person who commits a homicide can face a long prison sentence.
- a homicide investigation
- The homicide investigation lasted several months.
- a homicide detective
- A homicide detective interviewed the neighbors.
- the homicide rate
- The homicide rate in the city has fallen since the new program started.
- be charged with homicide
- He was charged with homicide and released on bail.
Synonyms and how they differ
- murder
- Murder is the everyday and legal word for an intentional, unlawful killing; homicide is wider and can include killings that are not crimes, such as self-defense.
- killing
- Killing is a general word for causing someone's death; it does not say whether it was a crime, so it is less formal and less specific than homicide.
- manslaughter
- Manslaughter is a legal term for a killing without the intention to kill; it is a type of homicide but not the same charge.
Word family
- homicidal adjective
- Wanting or likely to kill someone: a homicidal maniac.
Commonly confused: a homicide or suicide? a homicide or genocide?
a homicide vs suicide
Suicide is the act of killing yourself, while homicide is the killing of another person.
a homicide vs genocide
Genocide is the deliberate killing of a whole group or nation; homicide refers to one person killing another.
Practice
The police said they were treating the death as ______ and had started an investigation.
Choose one answer.
'A homicide' fits because we are talking about one specific death and the noun is countable. 'Homicide' without an article would refer to the department or the general crime, which does not fit 'treating the death as...'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a homicide”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.