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Definition: murder from The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide

Unlawful killing of one person by another. In the USA, first-degree murder requires proof of premeditation; second-degree murder falls between first-degree murder and manslaughter.

In British law murder is committed only when the killer acts with malice aforethought, that is, intending either to kill or to cause serious injury, or realizing that this would probably result. It is punishable by life imprisonment. It is the most serious form of homicide.

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Murder

From Encyclopedia of Social Problems
Generally defined, murder is the unlawful killing of one human being by another. Although precise legal definitions may vary somewhat across jurisdictions, murders are usually classified into two categories: first-degree murder and second-degree murder. First-degree murder is unlawful killing involving malice aforethought (i.e., intent to kill) and premeditation. Killings also may be classified as murder in the first degree if they occur during the commission of another felony (e.g., a robbery or burglary). Second-degree murder involves malice aforethought but lacks premeditation or other aggravating circumstance (such as killing in the act of another felony). Murder is a subcategory of a broader umbrella term, homicide, which also includes manslaughter (killings lacking malice and premeditation) and killings that are considered excusable (i.e., accidental) or justifiable (e.g., police killing of a suspect who threatens life of the officer or another citizen). Murder is generally…
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Full text Article MURDER

From Dictionary of Policing
Murder is a common law offence involving the intentional killing of one person by another. Murder is one of the oldest offences known to the law and is one of the three offences classified by the Home Office as homicide. The other two are the offences of manslaughter (where someone is unlawfully…
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Full text Article Murder

From Encyclopedia of Capital Punishment in the United States
Murder
Murder is generally defined as the intentional or purposeful killing of another human being. Murder may be capital or non-capital. A defendant charged with capital murder is subject to receiving the death penalty, whereas a defendant charged with non-capital murder is not subject to being punished…
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Full text Article murder

From The Macquarie Dictionary
Law the unlawful killing of a human being by an act done with intention to kill or to inflict grievous bodily harm, or with reckless indifference to human life. Plural: murders Colloquial an uncommonly laborious or difficult task gardening in the heat is murder., murders verb (t) /'m3d7/ /'merduh/ …
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Full text Article murder

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
a. The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the crime of killing a person with malice aforethought or with recklessness manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life. b. An instance of such killing. Slang Something that is very uncomfortable, difficult, …
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Full text Article Murder

From Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
To consume voraciously, usually said in anticipation, as: ‘I could murder a pint.’ See under bible . A sensational murder at Polstead, near Hadleigh, Suffolk, that won lasting notoriety in melodrama and story. The anonymous Maria Marten, or the Murder in the Red Barn was a roaring success on the…
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Full text Article murder

From The Chambers Dictionary
the act of intentionally and unlawfully killing a person; excessive or reprehensible slaughter that is not legally murder; torture, excessive toil or hardship ( hyperbole ); a collective term for a number of crows. vt to kill ( usu a person) unlawfully with malice aforethought; to slaughter; to…
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Full text Article murder

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
criminal homicide , usually distinguished from manslaughter by the element of malice aforethought. The most direct case of malicious intent occurs when the killer is known to have adopted the deliberate intent to commit the homicidal act at some time before it is actually committed. Very often, …
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Full text Article murders

From Shakespeare's Theatre: A Dictionary of His Stage Context
Most of the emotional high points of Shakespeare’s early histories and all his tragedies except Antony involve murders. They are scattered throughout the history plays , particularly the earlier ones such as Henry VI and Richard III . After the killing of Richard II there is a decline in murder…
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Full text Article Murder

From Book of Bible Quotations
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him … And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice…
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Full text Article murder-suicide

From The Encyclopedia of Suicide
The taking of the life of one or more individuals followed by the commission of suicide within one week of the murders. Some individuals kill their spouse or partner as well as their children, followed by killing themselves. The killer may be a spouse or parent or a relative or the individual may…
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