Definition of "penal code" []

• A body of laws relating to crimes and offenses and the penalties for their commission. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "On the other hand, to meet the emperors wishes as far as allowable, the penal code of the empire could be taken over as it stood (cf. Audray, "Regist. de Grégoire"
• "The filing was not alphabetical, and there was no logic to the penal code placements — homosexual occurrences were lumped with straight exhibitionism and child molestation; misdemeanants and felons brushed against each other."
• "He scanned upper right corners for penal code numbers — Burglary,"