capital offense
CulturalExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Early examples date back to 18th century England’s “molly houses,” secret meeting places where people would cross dress and which were often raided by authorities when homosexuality was still a capital offense.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 1, 2024
The judge said she was reluctant to grant bond but state statute forces her hand because the charges do not include a capital offense.
From Fox News • Dec. 15, 2021
The Malicious Shooting or Stabbing Act of 1803 outlawed the “malicious using of means to procure the miscarriage of women,” and abortion after “quickening” — or fetal movement — was considered a capital offense.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 25, 2020
Madison’s attorneys have argued that he should be spared because, after suffering from multiple strokes, the 67-year-old “has no memory of the capital offense for which he is to be executed.”
From Washington Post • Apr. 19, 2018
In many countries it was a capital offense for anyone but the official astrologer to read the portents in the skies: a good way to overthrow a regime was to predict its downfall.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
