capital punishment

[kap-i-tl puhn-ish-muhnt]

noun

1. punishment by death for a crime; death penalty.

capital punishment

noun

1. the punishment of death for a crime; death penalty

capital punishment

¹

1. The death penalty for a crime.

capital punishment

²

1. The infliction of the death penalty as punishment for certain crimes. (See capital offense.)

In the United States, capital punishment has been an extremely controversial issue on legal, moral, and ethical grounds. In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was not, in principle, cruel and unusual punishment (and not, therefore, unconstitutional), but that its implementation through existing state laws was unconstitutional. In 1976, the Supreme Court again ruled that the death penalty was not unconstitutional, though a mandatory death penalty for any crime was. Thirty-nine states now practice the death penalty.

Word History and Origins

Origin of capital punishment¹

First recorded in 1575–85

Example Sentences

Ben Gvir on Friday posted a video of himself standing over a row of Palestinian prisoners lying face down on the ground with their hands tied, in which he called for capital punishment.

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“One of the very first cases citing my book sent a man to his capital punishment,” he explained of an earlier dictionary.

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The British public was already questioning whether capital punishment had a place in 20th Century society and, two years after Ellis' hanging, legal changes saw diminished responsibility introduced as a defence.

Read more on BBC

The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.

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The last of 13 executions took place four days before the swearing-in of Biden, who campaigned on abolishing capital punishment.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal