perp

plural perps

1. slanggovernmentA perpetrator.

   "We have the perp in custody," the policeman said.

   1 more example

   Got himself fired for pulling a sword on an acknowledged perp. Slid it right through the fabric of the perp’s shirt, gliding the flat of the blade along the base of his neck, and pinned him to a warped and bubbled expanse of vinyl siding on the wall of the house that the perp was trying to break into.

   1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, New York: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 6

1. abbreviationclippingarchitectureClipping of perpendicular.

   a perp window

plural perps

1. businessA perpetual bond.
2. businessPerpetual futures.

   1 more example

   Autopsies carried out since then [Oct 2025 crypto crash] suggest that much of the damage can be traced to investors having piled into financial products known as perpetual futures. So-called perps allow traders to make highly leveraged bets, up to 100-to-1 on some crypto exchanges, to boost their returns on market moves.

   2025 December 6, George Steer, Jill R Shah, Nikou Asgari, “Crypto’s rocky year”, in FT Weekend (Big Read section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6