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lynched; lynching; lynches
: to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal approval or permission
The accused killer was lynched by an angry mob.
lyncher
noun
Examples of lynch in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In an omen of the horrors to come, just one year later, a white mob in Los Angeles lynched 17 Chinese men and boys in a raid on Chinatown.
—Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 26 Nov. 2024
Inspired by true events, a conformist mother who tries to fit in her neighbourhood determines to stand up to conventions to bury her son, lynched for being gay.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 22 Nov. 2024
In the early hours of Saturday morning, the mob descended on a barbershop owned by a Black man named Scott Burton and lynched him.
—Chelsea Bailey, CNN, 27 July 2024
Written by journalist Wright Thompson, the magazine article revisited the murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after a white woman accused him of whistling suggestively at her.
—Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Nov. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near lynch
Cite this Entry
“Lynch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lynch. Accessed 30 Dec. 2024.
Kids Definition
lynch
verb
: to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal authority
lyncher
noun
Legal Definition
lynch
transitive verb
: to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal sanction
lyncher
noun
More from Merriam-Webster on lynch
Nglish: Translation of lynch for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of lynch for Arabic Speakers
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