/ vaɪs; NAmE / 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 ) ( NAmE 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 .
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WORD ORIGIN
senses 1 to 2 Middle English : via Old French from Latin vitium .
sense 3 Middle English (denoting a screw or winch): from Old French vis , from Latin vitis vine.