perp

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɝp/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)p

Etymology 1

Clipping of perpetrator.

Noun

perp (plural perps)

1. (slang, law enforcement) Perpetrator.

   "We have the perp in custody," the policeman said.

   • 1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 6:

     Got himself fired for pulling a sword on an acknowledged perp. Slid it right through the fabric of the perp’s shirt, gliding the flat of the blade along the base of his neck, and pinned him to a warped and bubbled expanse of vinyl siding on the wall of the house that the perp was trying to break into.

Derived terms

• perp walk

Translations

perpetrator

• German: Täter (de) m
• Russian: правонаруши́тель (ru) m (pravonarušítelʹ), злоумы́шленник (ru) m (zloumýšlennik)

Etymology 2

Adjective

perp

1. (architecture) Clipping of perpendicular.

   a perp window

Further reading

• Jonathon Green (2024) “perp n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Anagrams

• PrEP, Repp, prep, prep., repp

French

Etymology

Clipping of perpétuité.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛʁ/

Noun

perp f (plural perps)

1. (colloquial) perpetuity