in the first degree

idiom

: of the most serious type : deserving the harshest punishment

She was accused of murder in the first degree.

Examples of in the first degree in a Sentence

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Testimony was heard, evidence was introduced, a verdict was reached: guilty on all thirty-four counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, as part of a scheme to suppress damaging evidence from becoming public during his first Presidential campaign. —

Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 10 Jan. 2025 Trump ultimately failed to block sentencing On May 30, 2024, a New York County jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. —

Wayne Unger, The Conversation, 9 Jan. 2025 Prioleau was taken to the Central Booking and Intake Facility where he was charged with murder in the first degree, police said. —

Maggie Ybarra, Baltimore Sun, 8 Jan. 2025 Trump is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in New York for 34 felony counts of falsification of business records in the first degree, though his lawyers have vowed to pursue a fast-moving multi-pronged effort to postpone the proceedings. —

Graham Kates, CBS News, 6 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for in the first degree

Dictionary Entries Near in the first degree

in the firing line

in the first degree

in the (first) flush of

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“In the first degree.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/in%20the%20first%20degree. Accessed 27 Jan. 2025.

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