mischief

mischief
In legislative parlance, the word is sometimes used to signify the evil or danger which a statute is intended to cure or avoid.
In the phrase "malicious mischief," (q.v.) it imports a wanton or reckless injury to persons or property.
A person is guilty of criminal mischief if he:
(a) damages tangible property of another purposely, recklessly, or by negligence in the employment of fire, explosives, or other dangerous means, or
(b) purposely or recklessly tampers with tangible property of another so as to endanger person or property; or
(c) purposely or recklessly causes another to suffer pecuniary loss by deception or threat. Model Penal Code, No. 220.3

Black's law dictionary. . 1990.

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  • mischief — I noun annoyance, criminality, cruelty, damage, damnum, danger, detriment, devilment, deviltry, disservice, evil, evil conduct, fault, foul play, frolicsomeness, harm, harmful action, hurt, ill consequence, impishness, incommodum, infliction,… …   Law dictionary

  • Mischief — Mis chief (m[i^]s ch[i^]f), n. [OE. meschef bad result, OF. meschief; pref. mes (L. minus less) + chief end, head, F. chef chief. See {Minus}, and {Chief}.] [1913 Webster] 1. Harm; damage; esp., disarrangement of order; trouble or vexation caused …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • mischief — ► NOUN 1) playful misbehaviour. 2) harm or injury caused by someone or something. ● do someone a mischief Cf. ↑do someone a mischief ORIGIN Old French meschief, from meschever come to an unfortunate end …   English terms dictionary

  • mischief — (n.) c.1300, evil condition, misfortune, need, want, from O.Fr. meschief misfortune, harm, trouble; annoyance, vexation (12c., Mod.Fr. méchef), verbal noun from meschever come or bring to grief, be unfortunate (opposite of achieve), from mes… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Mischief — Mis chief, v. t. To do harm to. [Obs.] Milton. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • mischief — *injury, hurt, damage, harm Analogous words: perniciousness, detrimentalness or detriment, deleteriousness, noxiousness, banefulness or bane (see corresponding adjectives at PERNICIOUS): *evil, ill: impairment, marring, spoiling (see… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • mischief — [n] trouble, damage atrocity, catastrophe, devilment, devilry, dirty trick*, evil, fault, friskiness, frolicsomeness, funny business*, gag, harm, high jinks*, hurt, ill, impishness, injury, misbehavior, mischievousness, misconduct, misdoing,… …   New thesaurus

  • mischief — [mis′chif] n. [ME meschief < OFr < meschever, to come to grief < mes (see MIS 1) + chever, come to a head < chief, end, head (see CHIEF)] 1. harm, damage, or injury, esp. that done by a person 2. a cause or source of harm, damage, or… …   English World dictionary

  • Mischief — For other uses, see Mischief (disambiguation). H. Brückner, Mischief (1874) Mischief is a vexatious or annoying action, or, conduct or activity that playfully causes petty annoyance. Young children, when they hear of mischief, think of practical… …   Wikipedia

  • mischief — n. 1) to cause, do, make mischief 2) to be up to, get into mischief 3) malicious mischief 4) out of mischief (to stay out of mischief; to keep children out of mischief) 5) full of mischief 6) up to mischief * * * [ mɪstʃɪf] do get into mischief… …   Combinatory dictionary

  • mischief — mis|chief [ mıstʃıf ] noun uncount behavior or play, especially of children, that causes trouble but not serious harm to other people: be up to/get up to mischief (=do something bad): The boys are always up to some kind of mischief! get into… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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