Definition

1. Verb:
   • To execute, typically by hanging, a person accused of a crime without a legal trial or due process of law. This action is usually carried out by a mob or group acting outside the established legal system.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • The angry mob threatened to lynch the accused thief.
  • Historically, hate groups used to lynch innocent people based on racial prejudice.
  • The sheriff prevented the crowd from attempting to lynch the prisoner.

Advanced Usage

• "to be lynched": to be killed by a mob without a legal trial.
  • He feared he would be lynched if the townspeople discovered his secret.
• "lynch mob": a group of people intent on lynching someone.
  • A lynch mob gathered outside the jail, demanding the prisoner be handed over.

Variants and Related Words

• Lynching (n): The act or instance of killing someone by lynching.
  • The lynching was a dark chapter in the town's history.

Synonyms

• Execute extrajudicially: To put to death without legal authority.
• Mob justice: Punishment, often violent, carried out by a crowd instead of a court.

Related Phrases

• Lynch law: The practice of punishing people, often by death, through mob action rather than through a legal trial.
  • The frontier town was often governed by lynch law.

Verb

1. kill without legal sanction
   • The blood-thirsty mob lynched the alleged killer of the child