Cite as: 514 U. S. 695 (1995)
Opinion of the Court
requiring adherence to presumptive definition unless context "indicate[d]" a different meaning).4
In Rowland, we explained the proper method of analyzing a statutory term's "context" to determine when a presumptive definition must yield. Such an analysis, we explained, requires a court to examine "the text of the Act of Congress surrounding the word at issue, or the texts of other related congressional Acts . . . ." Id., at 199; see also id., at 212-213 (Thomas, J., dissenting); Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs., 436 U. S. 658, 689-690, n. 53 (1978). Review of other materials is not warranted. "If Congress had meant to point further afield, as to legislative history, for example, it would have been natural to use a more spacious phrase, like 'evidence of congressional intent,' in place of 'context.' " Rowland, 506 U. S., at 200.
In the case of § 1001, there is nothing in the text of the statute, or in any related legislation, that even suggests—let alone "shows"—that the normal definition of "department" was not intended. Accordingly, a straightforward interpretation of the text of § 1001, with special emphasis on the words "department or agency," would seem to lead inexorably to the conclusion that there is no need for any judicial function exception because the reach of the statute simply does not extend to courts. Our task, however, is complicated by the fact that the Court interpreted "department" broadly 40 years ago in Bramblett. We must, therefore,
4 Congress' use of the word "shows" is unsurprising in view of the fact that 18 U. S. C. § 6 provides statutory definitions exclusively for criminal statutes. We have often emphasized the need for clarity in the definition of criminal statutes, to provide "fair warning . . . in language that the common world will understand, of what the law intends to do if a certain line is passed." McBoyle v. United States, 283 U. S. 25, 27 (1931). See also United States v. Batchelder, 442 U. S. 114, 123 (1979); Lanzetta v. New Jersey, 306 U. S. 451, 453 (1939). Adhering to the statutory definition of a particular term is fully consistent with this objective. Cf. Rowland, 506 U. S., at 199 (construing 1 U. S. C. § 1, which is generally applicable to any Act of Congress).
701
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