crim. law. The act of gelding. When this act is maliciously performed upon a man, it is a mayhem, and punishable as such, although the sufferer consented to it. 2. By the ancient law of England this crime was punished by retaliation, membrum pro membro. 3 Inst. 118. It is punished in the United States generally by fine and imprisonment. The civil law punished it with death.