in the act
In the process of doing something considered criminal or otherwise wrongIn the process of doing something considered criminal or otherwise wrong; used to emphasize the eye-witness evidence.
» I caught Tom in the act.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(idiomatic)In the process of doing something considered criminal or otherwise wrong; used to emphasize the eye-witness evidence.
She denied it but she had been spotted in the act.
He was caught in the act in the store after hours.
auf frischer Tat
на ме́сте преступле́нияna méste prestuplénija, с поли́чнымs políčnym
Examples
55 sentencesI caught Tom in the act.
Tom got caught in the act.
This is an opera in five acts.
ruВ этой опере пять актов. — sharptoothed
deDies ist eine Oper in fünf Akten. — samueldora
He was caught in the act of stealing.
Tom has been asked to act in a three-act play.
Translations
5 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.