Trend Watch

Manslaughter

When the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor resumed ...

When:

Lookups spiked on October 17, 2011.

Why:

"Involuntary manslaughter," the charge against Michael Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, received a lot of attention this week as the doctor's trial resumed.

Murray is accused of improperly administering the anesthetic drug Propofol that killed the pop icon. The defense team is expected to argue that the dose given to Jackson was too small to cause death.

Manslaughter is "the crime of killing a person without intending to do so." It's a lesser crime than murder, which implies deliberate killing.


Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!