electric chair
Americannoun
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a chair used to electrocute criminals sentenced to death.
-
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.
“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
Those tapes were recorded once each in 1987, 1989, and twice in 1990, when Virginia still used the electric chair.
From Slate ● May 15, 2023
But by the late 1970s and early 1980s, problems with executions using the electric chair made headlines everywhere.
From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2022
In 1983, Ms. Piel persuaded a judge to issue a stay of their execution 16 hours before the defendants were set to die in the electric chair.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 30, 2022
The Carter Cowboys had been saved from the electric chair.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
