Both Uses of
culprit
in
The Poisonwood Bible
- If anyone or anything set foot in our chicken house—if it had feet, that is—we would catch the culprit red-handed.†
Chpt 4 *culprit = person responsible for a wrongdoing
- My help would rob me blind if I didn't keep every single thing locked down, and punish the culprits with a firm hand.†
Chpt 5culprits = people responsible for a wrongdoing -- especially criminals
Definitions:
-
(1)
(culprit) someone responsible for a wrongdoing -- especially a criminal; or something that caused a problem
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely culprit can reference anything identified as the cause of a problem -- such as a defective part that broke a machine.