capital punishment
noun
: punishment by death : the practice of killing people as punishment for serious crimes
called also death penalty
Examples of capital punishment in a Sentence
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Florida's increasing use of the death penalty remains a contentious issue, with debates persisting over the fairness of legal processes, the reliability of forensic evidence, and the moral questions surrounding capital punishment.
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Matthew Robinson, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2025
Days later, the lower court again affirmed Smith’s intellectual disability and, thus, ineligibility for capital punishment.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 10 Dec. 2025
Prison staff, in these final two days, are inspecting all rooms and equipment in the capital punishment unit.
—Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean, 9 Dec. 2025
The policy was borne from Rosen’s determination that the death penalty was unjust and that pursuing death penalty cases was impractical given a state moratorium on capital punishment and the literal dismantling of the physical death row at at San Quentin State Prison.
—Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 6 Dec. 2025
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Matthew Robinson, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2025
Days later, the lower court again affirmed Smith’s intellectual disability and, thus, ineligibility for capital punishment.
—Ella Lee, The Hill, 10 Dec. 2025
Prison staff, in these final two days, are inspecting all rooms and equipment in the capital punishment unit.
—Kirsten Fiscus, Nashville Tennessean, 9 Dec. 2025
The policy was borne from Rosen’s determination that the death penalty was unjust and that pursuing death penalty cases was impractical given a state moratorium on capital punishment and the literal dismantling of the physical death row at at San Quentin State Prison.
—Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 6 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for capital punishment
Cite this Entry
“Capital punishment.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capital%20punishment. Accessed 20 Dec. 2025.
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