Lynch

/lɪnʧ/

Meaning & Definition

verb

To put to death, especially by hanging, without legal authority or trial.

The mob decided to lynch the accused man without waiting for the trial.

To avenge a perceived wrong by mob action.

In the past, communities sometimes lynched individuals accused of crimes without any evidence.

To punish (someone) for an alleged crime in a brutal or public manner.

The historical violence against certain groups often included lynching as a form of punishment.

Possibly named after Charles Lynch, a Virginia farmer and magistrate who conducted extrajudicial punishments during the American Revolution.

lynch mob:

A group of people who take the law into their own hands to punish someone accused of a crime.

To unjustly accuse or punish someone in a harsh manner.

They lynched him on social media without knowing the real story.