18 U.S.C. § 2311 - Definitions

• Cite as: 18 U.S.C. § 2311

As used in this chapter:

"Aircraft" means any contrivance now known or hereafter invented, used, or designed for navigation of or for flight in the air;

"Cattle" means one or more bulls, steers, oxen, cows, heifers, or calves, or the carcass or carcasses thereof;

"Livestock" means any domestic animals raised for home use, consumption, or profit, such as horses, pigs, llamas, goats, fowl, sheep, buffalo, and cattle, or the carcasses thereof;

"Money" means the legal tender of the United States or of any foreign country, or any counterfeit thereof;

"Motor vehicle" includes an automobile, automobile truck, automobile wagon, motorcycle, or any other self-propelled vehicle designed for running on land but not on rails;

"Securities" includes any note, stock certificate, bond, debenture, check, draft, warrant, traveler's check, letter of credit, warehouse receipt, negotiable bill of lading, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in any profit-sharing agreement, collateral-trust certificate, preorganization certificate or subscription, transferable share, investment contract, voting-trust certificate; valid or blank motor vehicle title; certificate of interest in property, tangible or intangible; instrument or document or writing evidencing ownership of goods, wares, and merchandise, or transferring or assigning any right, title, or interest in or to goods, wares, and merchandise; or, in general, any instrument commonly known as a "security", or any certificate of interest or participation in, temporary or interim certificate for, receipt for, warrant, or right to subscribe to or purchase any of the foregoing, or any forged, counterfeited, or spurious representation of any of the foregoing;

"Tax stamp" includes any tax stamp, tax token, tax meter imprint, or any other form of evidence of an obligation running to a State, or evidence of the discharge thereof;

"Value" means the face, par, or market value, whichever is the greatest, and the aggregate value of all goods, wares, and merchandise, securities, and money referred to in a single indictment shall constitute the value thereof.

"Vessel" means any watercraft or other contrivance used or designed for transportation or navigation on, under, or immediately above, water.

Cite as 18 U.S.C. § 2311

Source: June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 805; Pub. L. 87-371, §1, Oct. 4, 1961, 75 Stat. 802; Pub. L. 98-547, title II, §202, Oct. 25, 1984, 98 Stat. 2770; Pub. L. 103-322, title XXXII, §3209120912,, 108 Stat. 2128; Pub. L. 104-294, title VI, §604(b)(20), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3507; Pub. L. 107-273, div. B, title IV, §4002(b)(8), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1808; Pub. L. 109-177, title III, §307(b)(1), Mar. 9, 2006, 120 Stat. 240.