aid and abet

aid and abet

To assist someone, usually in a mischievous or illegal activity. Gary was arrested and charged with aiding and abetting the jewelry thief. I know other kids aided and abetted Paul in egging our house—he's just the only one who got caught.
See also: abet, aid, and
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

aid and abet someone

Cliché to help someone; to incite someone to do something, possibly something that is wrong. (Originally a legal phrase.) He was scolded for aiding and abetting the boys who were fighting.
See also: abet, aid, and
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

aid and abet

FORMAL
If someone aids and abets another person, they help or encourage them to do something criminal or wrong. His wife was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for aiding and abetting him. Note: This expression is often used in legal contexts.
See also: abet, aid, and
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.

aid and abet

help and encourage someone to do something wrong, especially to commit a crime.
Abet comes from an Old French term meaning ‘to encourage a hound to bite’.
1986 Frank Peretti This Present Darkness She strained to think of…any friend who would still aid and abet a fugitive from the law, without questions.
See also: abet, aid, and
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

aid and abet, to

To assist and promote or encourage something or someone. The pairing of these nearly synonymous verbs, always in this order, comes from criminal law, where it denotes helping, facilitating and promoting the commission of a crime. The verbs themselves are quite old, aid dating from about 1400 and abet from about 1300. Although the term still is principally used in relation to criminal actions, it gradually crept into more general speech, as in “The influx of Canada geese on the golf course, aided and abetted by people feeding them . . .”
See also: aid, and
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • aid and abet, to
  • AIDS
  • funny stuff
  • caper
  • tea leaf
  • keep (one's) weather eye open
  • keep a
  • keep a weather eye open
  • keep a weather eye out
  • keep weather eye open
References in periodicals archive
But understanding why proof of intent to "aid and abet" should be such an intractable problem requires understanding the other "thought crimes" as well.
So long as the accused acts with the forbidden desires to conspire, to aid and abet, or to attempt, he is guilty whatever he does, however innocuous.
Technology and the guilty mind: when do technology providers become criminal accomplices?
Prosecution of Persons Who Aid And Abet Violations.--For purposes
scheme, attorneys who knowingly aid and abet the fraud will not only
Breaking past the parallax: finding the true place of lawyers in securities fraud
Such a class of participants is sometimes referred to as "secondary actors," because they are not alleged to have committed primary violations of the federal securities laws; rather, secondary actors aid and abet primary violators, and have at least some knowledge or awareness that what they are doing is wrong.
Aiding and abetting, a Madoff family affair: why secondary actors should be held accountable for securities fraud through the restoration of the private right of action for aiding and abetting liability under the federal securities laws
If we give driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants, will we unwittingly aid and abet terrorists in the sequel to 9/11?
Translation Nation: American Ientity in the Spanish-speaking United States
Tory justice spokeswoman Annabel Goldie accused the Executive of using the Know the Score website to 'aid and abet' children to hide drugs from parents and police.
Drug help website slammed
It's worth noting as well that Mexico flagrantly violates international conventions by using its consulates to aid and abet criminal behavior by its nationals in the United States (see the cover story "Stealth Invasion" in our April 5 issue).
World Court orders changes in U.S. death penalty
"We will not aid and abet child pornographers by publicizing their illegal Web sites," Fisher's spokesman told the Associated Press.
The big block: a secret online blacklist. (Citings)
As stated in Hooks, "to aid and abet another to commit a crime it is necessary that a defendant in some sort associate himself with the venture, that he participate in it as in something that he wishes to bring about, and that he seek by his action to make it succeed."(4)
Avoiding the Sec. 7206(2) criminal penalty for false/fraudulent return preparation
1963 in the 103d Congress would have amended Section 10(b) by inserting the words "or to aid and abet the use or employ any manipulative or deceptive device or contrivance" before the words "in contravention." This proposed legislation was not enacted into law.
Textualist statutory interpretation kills section 10(b) "aiding and abetting" liability
The Cleveland study raises questions about how the T4 lymphocytes (and in particular the T4 helper-inducer cells) aid and abet plaque buildup.
White cells and the formation of plaque
The accused, of Kilclare Gardens, Tallaght, also denies she attempted to aid and abet her death by means of attempting to arrange travel to Zurich between March and April 2011.
Suicide assist accused was to receive 30% of will
The statute, however, does not use the terms "aid and abet." But Congress did explicitly use words broad enough to encompass all kinds of secondary liability.
In wrongful death action by parents of terrorist victim in Israel who had dual Israeli and U.S. citizenship, Seventh Circuit affirms denial of motion to dismiss various organizations as defendants that may have contributed to terrorist activities
She also denies she attempted to aid and abet the suicide of Ms Forde by trying to arrange travel to Zurich in Switzerland for such purpose between March 10 and April 20, 2011.
Assisted suicide trial hears of a 'lethal' dose