electric chair
Americannoun
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a chair used to electrocute criminals sentenced to death.
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the penalty of legal electrocution.
noun
Etymology
Origin of electric chair
An Americanism dating back to 1870–75
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The patent, I found, “contained a detailed drawing explaining all of the components of the electric chair apparatus and their function.”
From Slate ● May 6, 2025
“As soon as Dara and I walked into his house, the electric chair from ‘Female Trouble’ was right in front of us.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2023
There are the stories of the many lawyers and activists who fought to save Paula from the electric chair and end capital punishment for children.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2023
But by the late 1970s and early 1980s, problems with executions using the electric chair made headlines everywhere.
From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2022
I plow through the crowds in my electric chair like a power mower in thick grass.
From "Out of My Mind" by Sharon M. Draper
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.
