"in the act" meaning in English

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "in the act",
      "name": "head"
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with redundant transliterations",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "She denied it but she had been spotted in the act."
        },
        {
          "text": "He was caught in the act in the store after hours."
        },
        {
          "text": "He was caught in the act of climbing out the window."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In the process of doing something considered criminal or otherwise wrong; used to emphasize the eye-witness evidence."
      ],
      "id": "en-in_the_act-en-prep_phrase-OoUXFGFh",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In the process of doing something considered criminal or otherwise wrong; used to emphasize the eye-witness evidence."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "red-handed"
        },
        {
          "word": "in flagrante delicto"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "現行"
        },
        {
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "xiànxíng",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "现行"
        },
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "på fersk gerning"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "op heterdaad"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "itse teossa"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "sur le fait"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "auf frischer Tat"
        },
        {
          "code": "no",
          "lang": "Norwegian",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "på fersk gjerning"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "na gorącym uczynku"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "na méste prestuplénija",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "на ме́сте преступле́ния"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "s políčnym",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "с поли́чным"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "con las manos en la masa"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "på bar gärning"
        },
        {
          "code": "tl",
          "lang": "Tagalog",
          "sense": "in the process of doing something",
          "word": "huli sa akto"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-in the act.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/48/En-au-in_the_act.ogg/En-au-in_the_act.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/En-au-in_the_act.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "in the act"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase"
      },
      "expansion": "in the act",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English prepositional phrases",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "She denied it but she had been spotted in the act."
        },
        {
          "text": "He was caught in the act in the store after hours."
        },
        {
          "text": "He was caught in the act of climbing out the window."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In the process of doing something considered criminal or otherwise wrong; used to emphasize the eye-witness evidence."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In the process of doing something considered criminal or otherwise wrong; used to emphasize the eye-witness evidence."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-in the act.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/48/En-au-in_the_act.ogg/En-au-in_the_act.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/En-au-in_the_act.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
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  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "red-handed"
    },
    {
      "word": "in flagrante delicto"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "現行"
    },
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "xiànxíng",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "现行"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "på fersk gerning"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "op heterdaad"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "itse teossa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "sur le fait"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "auf frischer Tat"
    },
    {
      "code": "no",
      "lang": "Norwegian",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "på fersk gjerning"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "na gorącym uczynku"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "na méste prestuplénija",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "на ме́сте преступле́ния"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "s políčnym",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "с поли́чным"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "con las manos en la masa"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "på bar gärning"
    },
    {
      "code": "tl",
      "lang": "Tagalog",
      "sense": "in the process of doing something",
      "word": "huli sa akto"
    }
  ],
  "word": "in the act"
}