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Glite Dictionary
to fit the crime

to fit the crime

9 5.8
To match a punishment to how serious the crime is
  • idiom
translation icon : ajustarse al delito
  • The punishment should fit the crime, and jail time should be reserved for those who pose a danger to society.
  • the punishment fits the crime
  • let the punishment fit the crime
  • make the punishment fit the crime

Examples

  • Let the punishment fit the crime.

    Carrie (2013)

  • The punishment must fit the crime.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • But the punishment should fit the crime.

    Devil's Void (2022)

  • There will never be an easy answer or a punishment to fit the crime.

    Blog text (17)

  • Should the punishment not fit the crime?

    Blog text (32)

  • If rights were violated, then the punishment should fit the crime.

    Blog text (18)

  • The punishment certainly doesn't seem to fit the crime.

    Blog text (34)

  • The punishment should fit the crime—and not that we all committed the same crimes—so we can move on.

    Blog text (27)

  • The judge insisted that the punishment must fit the crime to ensure justice is served.

  • Many believe that the consequences should fit the crime to reflect the severity of the offense.

Synonyms

to fit
vsto fit the crime
969 1.0

To match or go well with something

is specific to punishment matching severity and nature of an offense

Antonyms

to overreach
15 6.2

To go beyond what you are allowed to do

to undertreat
8.0

To give less attention or care than needed

Surface Forms

fit the crime infinitive
fitted the crime past
fitted the crime past participle
fitting the crime present participle
fits the crime third person singular

Morphology

fit + the + crime

The meaning 'to be appropriate in severity or nature to the offense' is directly derived from combining 'fit' (to correspond) with 'the crime' (the offense); the verb + noun composition yields the intended sense without metaphorical shift. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and would be readily understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Fit the crime comes from a simple image: a punishment should be the right size for the wrong, like a tailor making a coat to fit the person who did the crime. So it means 'to be the right level of punishment for the wrong'.