From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha life of crimea life of crimewhen someone spends their life stealing and committing crimes, in order to get money to live → crime
Examples from the Corpus
a life of crime• Jock has chosen a life of crime within which to fashion a self.• They hadn't bothered tuppence before when he was following a life of crime.• I certainly never figured Tod/John for a life of crime.• At the age of twelve, he entered into a life of crime.• I paid Fagin to trap Oliver into a life of crime. 