*misde*

n. The act of misdealing; a wrong distribution of cards to the players. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. misd&aemacr_;d. See Deed, n. ] An evil deed; a wicked action. [ 1913 Webster ]

Evils which our own misdeeds have wrought. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Misconduct; misdemeanor; fault; offense; trespass; transgression; crime. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To misjudge. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To behave ill; -- with a reflexive pronoun; as, to misdemean one's self. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One guilty of a misdemeanor. Sydney Smith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Ill behavior; evil conduct; fault. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) A crime less than a felony. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ As a rule, in the old English law, offenses capitally punishable were felonies; all other indictable offenses were misdemeanors. In common usage, the word crime is employed to denote the offenses of a deeper and more atrocious dye, while small faults and omissions of less consequence are comprised under the gentler name of misdemeanors. Blackstone.

The distinction, however, between felonies and misdemeanors is purely arbitrary, and is in most jurisdictions either abrogated or so far reduced as to be without practical value. Cf. Felony. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Misdeed; misconduct; misbehavior; fault; trespass; transgression. [ 1913 Webster ]

obs. p. p. of Misdeem. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To distribute wrongly. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He misdeparteth riches temporal. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To turn or divert improperly; to misdirect. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To derive erroneously. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To describe wrongly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Ill desert. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]