electrocute
[ih-lek-truh-kyoot]
- to kill by electricity.
- to execute (a criminal) by electricity, as in an electric chair.
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Origin of electrocute
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for electrocuted
Contemporary Examples
His father, who worked in a box factory, was fixing a fan one day at home and got electrocuted.
At Gabal Ahmar, the young inmates had been viciously beaten or electrocuted using Taser-style devices, according to Bilal.
Some perished as they tried to evacuate at the last minute; others were found days later, drowned or electrocuted in their homes.
Ahmad claims that four plainclothes officers cuffed him to a chair, jammed open his mouth, and electrocuted his gums.
He was electrocuted and left with second- and third-degree burns and a severe case of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Historical Examples
It was all so like death, this disappearance—as if he had thrown the switch that electrocuted a man.
The Radiant ShellPaul Ernst
Both men were electrocuted, and the formula is still a secret.
Advanced ChemistryJack G. Huekels
Why, a man in the States would be electrocuted on half the evidence.
The Green MummyFergus Hume
No man was ever electrocuted for not knowing, and that's just where I am.
T. TembaromFrances Hodgson Burnett
"I believe you would be cheerful if you were going to be electrocuted," she said, pensively.
The Pillar of LightLouis Tracy
electrocute
- to kill as a result of an electric shock
- US to execute in the electric chair
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Word Origin
C19: from electro- + (exe)cute
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for electrocuted
electrocute
v.
"execute by electricity," 1889, American English, from electro- + back half of execute. The method first was used Aug. 6, 1890, in New York state, on William Kemmler, convicted of the murder of his common-law wife. Sense involving accidental death is first recorded 1909. Electric chair is also first recorded 1889, which is when the first one was introduced in New York state as a humane alternative to hanging. Related: Electrocuted; electrocuting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper