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
Because Trump seemed perfectly fine with the Jan. 6 mob lynching his vice president?
—
Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Almost a year ago, a group of Port-au-Prince residents lynched and set fire to around a dozen men believed to be gang members launching what became known as the Bwa Kale movement, a vigilante justice movement that rights groups say has sometimes been carried out with members of Haiti’s police.
—Fredlyn Pierre Louis, NBC News, 21 Mar. 2024
Dorie Ladner was 11 months younger than Emmett Till, an African American who was 14 when he was lynched in the Mississippi Delta in 1955, his mutilated body tethered with barbed wire to a cotton gin fan and submerged in the Tallahatchie River.
—Emily Langer, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024
Scores of Muslims have been lynched by Hindu mobs over allegations of eating beef or smuggling cows, an animal considered holy to Hindus.
—Sheikh Saaliq, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Mar. 2024
In 1861, George Marshall Clark, a 22-year-old Black apprentice barber, was lynched and hanged at Water and Buffalo streets in the Third Ward.
—Amy Schwabe, Journal Sentinel, 7 Feb. 2024
Till from Chicago, a 14-year-old African American, was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after he was accused of offending a white woman in her family's grocery store.
—USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2024
Buruma, who excels at setting a rather unworldly man in the public life of his time, describes how, in 1672, a mob in The Hague lynched Johan and Cornelis de Witt, brothers who had led the Netherlands’ liberal regime during what is now remembered as the Dutch Golden Age.
—Adam Kirsch, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024
The future Supreme Court justice was nearly lynched outside Columbia in 1946 after defending two Black men charged in a race riot.
—Rachel Hatzipanagos, Washington Post, 29 Jan. 2024
Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Almost a year ago, a group of Port-au-Prince residents lynched and set fire to around a dozen men believed to be gang members launching what became known as the Bwa Kale movement, a vigilante justice movement that rights groups say has sometimes been carried out with members of Haiti’s police.
—Fredlyn Pierre Louis, NBC News, 21 Mar. 2024
Dorie Ladner was 11 months younger than Emmett Till, an African American who was 14 when he was lynched in the Mississippi Delta in 1955, his mutilated body tethered with barbed wire to a cotton gin fan and submerged in the Tallahatchie River.
—Emily Langer, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2024
Scores of Muslims have been lynched by Hindu mobs over allegations of eating beef or smuggling cows, an animal considered holy to Hindus.
—Sheikh Saaliq, The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Mar. 2024
In 1861, George Marshall Clark, a 22-year-old Black apprentice barber, was lynched and hanged at Water and Buffalo streets in the Third Ward.
—Amy Schwabe, Journal Sentinel, 7 Feb. 2024
Till from Chicago, a 14-year-old African American, was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after he was accused of offending a white woman in her family's grocery store.
—USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2024
Buruma, who excels at setting a rather unworldly man in the public life of his time, describes how, in 1672, a mob in The Hague lynched Johan and Cornelis de Witt, brothers who had led the Netherlands’ liberal regime during what is now remembered as the Dutch Golden Age.
—Adam Kirsch, The New Yorker, 5 Feb. 2024
The future Supreme Court justice was nearly lynched outside Columbia in 1946 after defending two Black men charged in a race riot.
—Rachel Hatzipanagos, Washington Post, 29 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lynch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near lynch
Cite this Entry
“Lynch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lynch. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids 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
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