vice

Universal Words noun 1 [U] criminal activities that involve sex or drugs: plain-clothes detectives from the vice squad 2 [U,C] evil or immoral behaviour; an evil or immoral quality in sb's character: The film ended most satisfactorily: vice punished and virtue rewarded. * Greed is a terrible vice. * (humorous) Cigarettes are my only vice. 3 (BrE) (AmE vise) [C] a tool with two metal blocks that can be moved together by turning a screw. The vice is used to hold an object firmly while work is done on it: He held my arm in a vice-like (= very firm) grip.