capital punishment
noun
punishment by death for a crime; death penalty.
Origin of capital punishment
First recorded in 1575–85
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for capital punishment
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Historical Examples of capital punishment
The capital-punishment man was the Marquis of Beccaria, and that of makes a great difference in Europe.
Stories of InventionEdward E. Hale
capital punishment
noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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capital punishment
Note
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.
capital punishment
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
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