electrocute

verb

elec·tro·cute | \i-ˈlek-trə-ˌkyüt

electrocuted; electrocuting

Definition of electrocute

1 : to kill or severely injure by electric shock Because of flawed electrical work by contractors, the bulletin stated, soldiers at U.S. bases in Iraq had received severe electrical shocks, and some had even been electrocuted.— James Risen But if a power outage occurs, the PV [photovoltaic] system has to shut down or it could electrocute utility workers who think they're working on dead lines. — Popular Science He was working on Pier 38 on the West Side of Manhattan when he was accidently electrocuted by a high-voltage wire. He suffered second- and third-degree burns and had to undergo painful skin grafts.— Robert I. Friedman

2 : to execute (a criminal) by electricity Two of the big fish, Emanuel (Mendy) Weiss and Louis Capone, ultimately were convicted and electrocuted with the boss himself …— Scott Christianson

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Other Words from electrocute

electrocution \ i-ˌlek-trə-ˈkyü-shən

\ noun

Last year, we spent our vacation in a rustic cabin in Burgundy, where we … risked electrocution every time we recharged our laptop using the cabin's rustic, non-grounded electrical outlets. — Laura Colby In 1982, he was sentenced to death by lethal injection or electrocution. — Lola Ogunnaike

Examples of electrocute in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In late May, a 17-year-old straight-A student jumped onto the tracks at a station in the Bronx borough to retrieve something, but lost her footing and was electrocuted to death, officials told the New York Daily News. — Greg Norman, Fox News, "Video shows teen narrowly escaping death to retrieve skateboard after failed trick," 21 June 2018 Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards was electrocuted during a show there in 1965. — Ryan Lillis, sacbee, "This historic Sacramento theater will get an $11 million facelift | The Sacramento Bee," 23 May 2018 Officials believe she was electrocuted but are investigating exactly what happened, KSLA reported. — Natalie Dreier, ajc, "Girl electrocuted trying to rescue kittens, officials believe," 10 July 2018 The police suspect the bird may have been electrocuted because its claws had burn marks on them. — Kimberly Fornek, chicagotribune.com, "Police: Dead red-tailed hawk found in Burr Ridge might have been electrocuted," 25 June 2018 Hernandez was electrocuted in the dryer, officials said, PEOPLE reported. — Crystal Hill, miamiherald, "An infant was found inside a dryer, family says. Arkansas mom is charged with murder.," 1 June 2018 Among those fatalities were landscaper Rico Eltine, 55, of Fort Lauderdale, who was electrocuted a month ago in Margate. — Wayne K. Roustan, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Father and son struck by lightning, and only one would live," 11 July 2018 Or maybe the light switch to electrocute you with, to keep the right analogy going. — Fox News, "Meadows, Dershowitz react after Lisa Page defies subpoena," 12 July 2018 Dalhover was sentenced to death and was electrocuted at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City on Nov. 18, 1938. — Dawn Mitchell, Indianapolis Star, "'Kill-Crazy' Brady gang tried to out-gangster John Dillinger," 29 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'electrocute.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.