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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
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
There was a notorious Ku Klux Klan lynching in 1981, more than a decade after the Jim Crow era.
—Debbie Elliott, NPR, 26 Nov. 2024
The film — about a white graduate student researching an urban legend about a Black son of a slave who was lynched for falling in love with a white woman — offers complex questions for viewers to ponder.
—EW.com, 17 Oct. 2024
In the American Southwest, thousands of Mexican Americans were lynched from the end of the Mexican-American War through the early 20th century, in attacks aimed at instilling fear in a minority.
—Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 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 17 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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