FindLaw Legal Dictionary

Conspiracy

conspiracy n

pl: -cies
[Latin conspiratio, from conspirare to conspire see conspire ]
1 : an agreement between two or more people to commit an act prohibited by law or to commit a lawful act by means prohibited by law
;also
: the crime or tort of participating in a conspiracy compare substantive crime NOTE: Some states require an overt act in addition to the agreement to constitute conspiracy.

chain conspiracy
: a conspiracy in which the conspirators act separately and successively (as in distributing narcotics)

civil conspiracy
: a conspiracy that is not prosecuted as a crime but that forms the grounds for a lawsuit

criminal conspiracy
: a conspiracy prosecuted as a crime
2 : a group of conspirators

Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©1996. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.