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

Some died of hypothermia, burned to death while huddling near a hot plate for warmth, or were electrocuted by the third rail. — William Mcgurn, WSJ, "The Idea That Made America’s Cities Safer," 29 Dec. 2018 Train personnel got one brother down safely, but 24-year-old Michael Vigeant of Hudson, NH, touched a catenary wire and was electrocuted, said MTA officials. — Fox News, "Red Sox fan electrocuted after trying to train surf from Yankee Stadium," 21 Sep. 2018 Inmates have taken to protecting themselves, once unwiring the fans in their cells and flooding the police station with water, ready to electrocute any invading mobs. — Samantha Pearson, WSJ, "In Latin America, Awash in Crime, Citizens Impose Their Own Brutal Justice," 6 Dec. 2018 Where a regular algorithm sees a group of birds sitting atop a tree, Norman sees someone being electrocuted. — Christopher Carbone, Fox News, "Meet 'Norman,' a terrifying, psychopathic AI," 4 June 2018 Tasers them, electrocutes them, kicks them in the face, throws them across the room. — Aditi Shrikant, Vox, "Kidz Bop’s “censored” songs aren’t just annoying — they’re problematic," 3 Oct. 2018 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

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.