Definition

Noun: - A system of punishment, especially execution by hanging, carried out by a mob without legal authority or due process: "Lynch law" refers to the practice where a group of people, acting outside the legal system, captures and punishes someone, typically by hanging, for an alleged crime without a trial or formal legal procedures. It is associated with mob justice and vigilantism.

Usage

• "Lynch law" is used as a non-count noun to describe the concept or practice itself, not a specific instance. It often carries a strong negative connotation, highlighting lawlessness, prejudice, and the denial of legal rights.
• It is historically associated with racial violence, particularly in the United States.

Examples

• Noun:
  • The town descended into lynch law after the controversial accusation.
  • Historians have documented the era of lynch law in the post-Civil War South.
  • The sheriff tried to prevent the mob from imposing lynch law on the prisoner.

Advanced Usage

• "to be a victim of lynch law": to be punished or executed by a mob without a legal trial.
  • Many innocent people were victims of lynch law during that period of social unrest.
• "the rule of lynch law": a situation where mob justice prevails over formal legal institutions.
  • In the frontier territory, the rule of lynch law sometimes replaced absent courts.

Variants and Related Words

• Lynch (verb): To execute (someone), especially by hanging, by mob action without legal authority.
  • The mob threatened to lynch the suspect.
• Lynching (noun): An instance of being put to death by mob action without legal sanction.
  • The lynching was condemned by community leaders.

Synonyms

• Mob justice / Mob rule: Punishment or control exercised by a violent crowd, disregarding legal processes.
• Vigilantism: The act of enforcing laws or punishing crimes by unauthorized persons or groups.
• Kangaroo court: A mock court that ignores legal standards, often used to justify punishment decided in advance.

Related Phrases

• To take the law into one's own hands: To act as judge, jury, and executioner without legal authority, a concept closely related to lynch law.
  • The vigilantes decided to take the law into their own hands.

Noun

1. the practice of punishing people by hanging without due process of law