Perjury

How it is used

Used in court and the news: 'commit perjury', 'charged with perjury', 'perjury trial'. The everyday phrase is 'lie under oath'. Perjury is treated seriously because the whole justice system depends on truthful evidence.

Example sentences

1. The witness was later charged with perjury.

2. If you lie in court, you could be prosecuted for perjury.

Common collocations

• commit perjury
• charged with perjury
• lie under oath
• perjury trial

Related terms

• witnessA person who saw or heard something connected with a crime, or who gives information about it in court.
• testifyTo make a formal statement in court about what you know or saw, usually after promising to tell the truth.
• statementA written or recorded account of what a person saw, heard or did, given formally to the police or a court.
• offenceA formal word for an illegal act that the law punishes, from minor ones such as speeding to serious ones such as robbery.

More terms: Crimes & Offences

• crime
• theft
• murder
• assault
• robbery
• burglary
• fraud
• drug trafficking
• manslaughter
• bribery
• money laundering
• kidnapping