aid and abet

Verb

aid and abet (third-person singular simple present aids and abets, present participle aiding and abetting, simple past and past participle aided and abetted)

1. (transitive) To assist (someone) in an illegal act as an accessory or accomplice.
   • A bank employee was accused of aiding and abetting the gang of robbers.
   • In my future letters I shall perhaps take the opportunity to prove to you that the more men there are in a state, the more prosperous its commerce; I shall prove as easily, that as commerce flourishes, men increase; these two things necessarily aid and abet each other.[1892], [Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de] Montesquieu, “Letter CXVI: Usbek to the Same [Rhedi]”, in John Davidson, transl., Persian Letters, London: George Routledge & Sons; New...
2. (transitive) To assist someone in (an illegal act) as an accessory or accomplice.
   • Murder itself was not more sternly and certainly punished in the State of Maryland, than that of aiding and abetting the escape of a slave.1881, Frederick Douglass, “Escape from Slavery”, in Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, […], Hartford, Conn.: Park Publishing Co., →OCLC, part II, page 196
3. (intransitive) To be an accessory or accomplice to someone in an illegal act.
   • From about April 13 to about May 17, 1962, registrant, during a time when it was undergoing a change in ownership and management, together with or aided and abetted by Smythe, willfully violated Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 […]1964 May 11, In the Matter of SMYTHE, BOWERS, HILLIARD & CO., INC. […] File No. 8-8735: Findings and Opinion of the Commission (Securities Exchange Act Release; no. 7312), Washington, D.C....