sec·ond-degree
ˈse-kən(d)-di-ˈgrē 
-kᵊŋ-
1
US, of a crime
: of a level of seriousness that is less than first degree : warranting punishment but not the most severe punishment
second-degree assault/murder
2
: causing or characterized by a moderate level of injury
a second-degree concussion
see also second-degree burn
US
: the level of a crime that is less than first degree and warrants less severe punishment
He was charged with assault in the second degree.
Examples of second-degree in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 5 Oct. 2025
Thompson was arrested weeks later and charged with individual counts of second-degree murder and carrying or using a firearm in the commission of a separate felony.
—Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 4 Oct. 2025
Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 26 Sep. 2025
Twenty-five years to life for murder in the second degree, plus twelve and a half to twenty-five years for the kidnapping, and twelve and a half to twenty-five years for the robbery.
—John J. Lennon, Rolling Stone, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for second-degree
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Adjective
Ronald Exantus, 42, served seven years of a 20-year prison sentence in Woodford County after he was found guilty in 2018 on two counts of second-degree assault and one count of fourth-degree assault in relation to the death of Logan Tipton.
—Leo Bertucci, Louisville Courier Journal, 5 Oct. 2025
Thompson was arrested weeks later and charged with individual counts of second-degree murder and carrying or using a firearm in the commission of a separate felony.
—Emily Blackwood, PEOPLE, 4 Oct. 2025
Noun
The students, identified by police as Kyle Anderson and Samuel Patten, both 18, were each charged with burglary in the second degree as a hate crime and criminal nuisance in the second degree, police said.
—Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 26 Sep. 2025
Twenty-five years to life for murder in the second degree, plus twelve and a half to twenty-five years for the kidnapping, and twelve and a half to twenty-five years for the robbery.
—John J. Lennon, Rolling Stone, 23 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for second-degree
Cite this Entry
“Second-degree.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/second-degree. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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