Intermediate — Set 3

Set 3 of Intermediate covers 5 words: murder, commit, arrest, abuse, kidnap. Each entry below includes its definition, an example sentence, and synonyms — practice them with the interactive cards above.

1. murder · verb/ˈmərdər/

   to kill someone on purpose and against the law

   The police believe that he used a knife to murder the shop owner.

   Synonyms: kill, assassinate

   Origin: Old English morthor, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch moord and German Mord, from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit mará ‘death’ and Latin mors; reinforced in Middle English by Old French murdre

2. commit · verb/kəˈmɪt/

   to do something wrong or illegal, especially a crime

   People who commit a serious crime can go to prison for years.

   Synonyms: carry out, do

   Origin: late Middle English: from Latin committere ‘join, entrust’ (in medieval Latin ‘put into custody’), from com- ‘with’ + mittere ‘put or send’

3. arrest · verb/əˈrɛst/

   to take someone to the police station because the police think they broke the law

   The police couldn't arrest the man because there wasn't enough evidence.

   Synonyms: catch, capture

   Origin: late Middle English: from Old French arester, based on Latin ad- ‘at, to’ + restare ‘remain, stop’

4. abuse · verb/əˈbjuz/

   to use something in a wrong or harmful way, or to treat someone badly

   Leaders who abuse their positions of power are often not in power for a long time.

   Synonyms: misuse, exploit

   Origin: late Middle English: via Old French from Latin abus- ‘misused’, from the verb abuti, from ab- ‘away’ (i.e. ‘wrongly’) + uti ‘to use’

5. kidnap · verb/ˈkɪdˌnæp/

   to take someone away illegally and keep them somewhere, usually to get money

   A woman attempted to kidnap two children from a toy shop when they were standing right beside their mothers.

   Synonyms: abduct, seize, snatch

   Origin: late 17th century: back-formation from kidnapper, from kid + slang nap ‘nab, seize’