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Glite Dictionary
to do the crime

to do the crime

10 5.4
To break the law
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : cometer un delito
  • So you do the crime, you gotta do the time.
  • do the crime, pay
  • do the crime, do the time

So like, it wasn't unfair that I got locked up because like they say, don't do the crime if you can't do the time.

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Examples

  • They did the crime; now they should do the time.

    Blog text (5)

  • In other words, if you do the crime, you do the time.

    Blog text (14)

  • Don't do the crime and nobody gets hurt.

    Blog text (9)

  • They do the crime; we do the time.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • - If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

    Malibu Shark Attack (2009)

  • Don't do the crime if you haven't got the time.

    Say Uncle (2006)

  • If you didn't do the crime, you wouldn't have to serve the time.

    Academic text (1997)

  • If You Do the Crime, Don't Brag About It on Facebook

    Blog text (4)

  • DON'T DO THE CRIME IF YOU CAN'T DO THE TIME.

    Blog text (12)

  • If you choose to do the crime, you must be prepared to face the consequences.

Synonyms

to perpetrate
vsto do the crime
85 8.4

To do a harmful or illegal act

focuses only on illegal offenses rather than any harmful or immoral actions
to commit crime
vsto do the crime
48 2.5

To do something against the law

refers specifically to carrying out an unlawful offense rather than general harmful acts

Antonyms

to avoid
∞ 1.0

To stay away from something or not do it to stop something bad from happening

to abstain
18 5.0

To choose not to take something, often for health or religious reasons

How Serious

to do the crime
10 5.4

Surface Forms

do the crime infinitive
did the crime past
done the crime past participle
doing the crime present participle
does the crime third person singular

Morphology

do + the + crime

The meaning 'to commit a crime' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'do' (to perform) with 'crime' (an unlawful act), with the article 'the' adding no idiomatic shift. This simple verb + noun compositional pattern is common in English and cross-linguistically familiar, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Do the crime is a simple, literal phrase: do means 'to act' and crime means a wrong act. Imagine someone actually doing that wrong act, and that's why the phrase means 'to commit a crime'.