electric chair

noun

1

: a chair used in legal electrocution

2

: the penalty of death by electrocution

Examples of electric chair in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Thompson was set to be executed by the electric chair in 1982 and 1987, when then-governors Bob Graham and Bob Martinez signed death warrants for Thompson. — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 14 Sep. 2026

Czolgosz, having been convicted of murder, was executed in the electric chair within two months of the incident. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026

But Roy Cohn—an American scoundrel and the lawyer who helped send Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to the electric chair, aided Senator Joseph McCarthy in implementing the Red Scare, and showed Trump the ropes in the real-estate business—was long gone. — Kai Bird, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026

At 26, he had been convicted of murder and sentenced to death in the electric chair. — Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 19 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1883, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for electric chair

• concessionaire
• abwehr
• affair
• affaire
• airfare
• altair
• armchair
• aware
• beware
• bugbear
• carfare
• childcare

Legal Definition

electric chair

noun

elec·​tric chair

1

: a chair used in performing a legal electrocution

2

: the penalty of death by electrocution