electrocute
[ih-lek-truh-kyoot]
- to kill by electricity.
- to execute (a criminal) by electricity, as in an electric chair.
Origin of electrocute
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for electrocution
Contemporary Examples
Some of the stuff has been so shoddy and so sloppy that our soldiers are over there dying in the shower from electrocution.
Historical Examples
But there won't be any electrocution, Allen; no, there cannot be.
"But the electrocution was not to be until morning," she said.
"I'm not planning to end my days by electrocution," smiled Bob.
Walter and the WirelessSara Ware Bassett
He was tried speedily, sentenced to electrocution, and executed October 28.
Poems of American HistoryVarious
There are three men sentenced to electrocution in September and October.
Prisons and Prayer: Or a Labor of LoveElizabeth Ryder Wheaton
electrocute
- to kill as a result of an electric shock
- US to execute in the electric chair
Word Origin
C19: from electro- + (exe)cute
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for electrocution
n.
1890; see electrocute + -ion. Meaning "any death by electricity" is from 1940.
electrocute
v.
"execute by electricity," 1889, American English, from electro- + back half of execute. The method first was used Aug. 6, 1890, in New York state, on William Kemmler, convicted of the murder of his common-law wife. Sense involving accidental death is first recorded 1909. Electric chair is also first recorded 1889, which is when the first one was introduced in New York state as a humane alternative to hanging. Related: Electrocuted; electrocuting.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper