electric chair

noun

1. a chair used to electrocute criminals sentenced to death.

2. the penalty of legal electrocution.

electric chair

noun

1. 1. an electrified chair for executing criminals

   2. execution by this method

Word History and Origins

Origin of electric chair¹

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75

Example Sentences

The jury convicted him, leaving the judge with two sentencing options: a long prison sentence or the electric chair.

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She was sentenced to the electric chair but it was later commuted to a life sentence.

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He had requested death by firing squad over the other two state-approved methods of execution: electric chair and lethal injection.

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The film suggests Cohn’s last great achievement was his first — sending both of the Rosenbergs to the electric chair in 1953.

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Inmates in South Carolina are allowed to choose whether they want to die by lethal injection, electric chair or firing squad.

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