perp n.
1. (orig. US) a perpetrator, an accused criminal.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Thomas Co. Cat. (Colby, KS) 26 Sept. 3: Blow me,. there wasn’t a single varmint to be seen [...] ’cept the dead perp that Bill had plugged through the head. | |
| Sun (NY) 26 Dec. 5/3: ‘Yer a liar, ye little perp,’ cried Sniffles indignantly. | |
| Smack Man (1991) 91: If we bring in this perp legal-like, [...] we need a case for the DA. | |
| Fort Apache, The Bronx 10: They weren’t looking for leads because there would be no problem getting the perps on this case. | |
| Muscle for the Wing 53: This thing is goin’ to be a full-tilt fuckin’ boogie ’til we find the perp, dig? | |
| Homeboy 72: By then the ‘perp’ [...] was long gone around the corner. | |
| (con. 1970s) King Suckerman (1998) 185: The perps left plenty of prints. | |
| Skull Session 370: The perp or perps did the deed and bagged up the remains. | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Indep. on Sun. 17 Oct. 23: The perp said ‘Stick ’em up’. | |
| Sheepshagger 238: That’s all yew are to them, mun, a criminal. A perp. Nothin else. | |
| Snitch Jacket 137: I know you dig the brothers-in-blue parlance, partner, but he ain’t a ‘perp’ till he’s done something. | |
| (con. 1973) Johnny Porno 201: Five years ago he had killed a perp. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | ‘Dread Fellow Churls’ in Crime Factory: Hard Labour [ebook] I never suspected the perp’s dress-sense would hurt my eyes. | |
| Killing Pool 87: It galls me to have a perp laying down terms and conditions — a perp we have wrapped up so tight his balls are squeaking. | |
| The Force [ebook] The Haitians [...] found the perp still on the rooftop and tossed him off into the back alley. | |
| Class Act [ebook] ‘The serious bit about who killed the bloke [...] The perp’. | |
| ‘Broken’ in Broken 12: ‘The perp shot the woman and then himself’. |
2. (US black) one who is pretending or faking.
| Black Talk. |
3. (US drugs) fake crack cocaine consisting of baking soda and candle wax [ext. of sense 2].
| ONDCP Street Terms 16: Perp — Fake crack made of candle wax and baking soda. |
In compounds
a walk, e.g. that taken between a police car and a police station or into a law court, by a prisoner or suspect in custody.
| Indiana Gaz. (Indiana, PA) 10 May 2/1: Legal experts [...] agree that the president would have been better off doing the perp walk into the grand jury. | |
 | Standard-Speaker Hazleton, PA) 6 Mar. 15/2: Just about every local television station in the nation indulges in what is called in the trade ‘the perp walk.’ Usually with the co-operation of the police, the press knows when the alleged perpetrator is to be walked to the police station, and with cameras on, he or she is shown in handcuffs on the evening news . | |
| Plainclothes Naked (2002) 265: Massive shoulders hunched, a copy of Mademoiselle raised in front of his face, McCardle did the perp walk [...] to the sliding doors of the police station. | |
| ‘Transitions’ Wire ser. 5 ep. 4 [TV script] Find the State’s Attotrney. He set up a perp walk for Clay Davis outside the Grand Jury today. | |
| ‘Corpse by Any Other Name’ in Pulp Ink [ebook] They had McCrea doing the perp walk and everything. | |
| The Force [ebook] ‘You have to do that? [...] Make him do the perp walk?’. | |
| Lives Laid Away [ebook] I was the one who perp walked Duke Ducane into the 14th Precinct. |
In phrases
(US und.) looking obviously like a gangster.
| Autobiog. of My Dead Brother 57: He was in street clothes and perped down, with his pants hanging low on his hips and his sneakers open. |