lynch
verb
\
Definition of lynch
: to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal approval or permission The accused killer was lynched by an angry mob.
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Examples of lynch in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The Equal Justice Initiative reports more than 4,300 African Americans were lynched by 1950. — Jim Axelrod, CBS News, "Great-grandson of lynching victim faces the past: "This is American history"," 9 Apr. 2018 One of the black men accused of the crime was beaten and lynched. — Aaron Kessler, CNN, "Stacey Abrams won the Georgia county once known for being all white," 23 May 2018 Anderson's name and those of four additional Boone County victims are missing from the roll of African-Americans lynched across the United States from 1877 through 1950. — Mark Curnutte, Cincinnati.com, "Was man lynched in retribution for banker's death a drifter or man resented for success?," 1 May 2018 You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree. — Fox News, "Sekulow: Kavanaugh will be a brilliant Supreme Court justice," 10 July 2018 More than 4,000 black people in the U.S. were lynched — that is, killed out of racial hatred, usually by a mob — between 1877 and 1950, according to the Equal Justice Initiative. — CBS News, "Stars receive backlash for crying "lynching"," 4 May 2018 Calvin Kimblern was lynched by a mob of at least 3,000 in Pueblo, Colo., in 1900. — Mike Cason, AL.com, "Memorial, museum, recount terror of lynching, slavery's legacies," 23 Apr. 2018 Angry mobs form, and the nuns and the priest are nearly lynched. — John D'anna, azcentral, "Think child separations are unprecedented? Here are 3 heartbreaking examples from history," 21 June 2018 And frankly, if the membership lists had been released, people could have been lynched. — Dylan Matthews, Vox, "The internet was supposed to save democracy. I asked 4 tech optimists what went wrong.," 8 June 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'lynch.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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29 Aug 2018
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More Definitions for lynch
lynch
verb
English Language Learners Definition of lynch
: to kill (someone) illegally as punishment for a crime
See the full definition for lynch in the English Language Learners Dictionary
lynch
transitive verb
\
Legal Definition of lynch
: to put to death (as by hanging) by mob action without legal sanction
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