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Glite Dictionary
💊 A medicine mixer ⚖️ A case settler
compounder

compounder

8.9
A person who accepts money to stop a criminal case from going to court
  • noun
  • /ˈkɒmpaʊndər/
  • Archaic
translation icon : extorsionador
  • Authorities warned that acting as a compounder in criminal cases is illegal in many countries.

Examples

  • The lawyer was accused of being a compounder after settling the matter privately for a fee.

  • The compounder accepted a payment to drop the charges.

  • The compounder negotiated a payment to avoid taking the case to court.

  • Many compounders operate in the shadows of the law.

  • The compounder agreed to drop the charges in exchange for a donation to the community fund.

  • After negotiation, the compounder settled for a smaller fine instead of facing prosecution.

  • The prosecutor met with the compounder to discuss the terms of the settlement for the offense.

Surface Forms

compounder singular
compounders plural

Morphology

compounder = compound (semi-transparent) = compound + er

Morphologically regular agent-noun formation, but the verb sense 'to compound' meaning 'to settle by payment' is specialized/legal and may not be obvious to general learners.

Etymology

Compounder also comes from the word compound in the sense 'to make an agreement' or 'settle'. A helpful way to remember this meaning is to think of a compounder as someone who 'puts together' a private deal to stop a court case.