firing squad
Americannoun
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a military detachment assigned to execute a condemned person by shooting.
-
a military detachment assigned to fire a salute at the burial of a person being honored.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of firing squad
First recorded in 1900–05
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.
Granted, they have been gunning for his judgement too, in a circular firing squad about credibility.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
In 1867, as Paris withdrew support and Washington backed the nationalist cause, Maximilian drew his final breath before a Mexican firing squad.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2025
Borrowing from what Justice Sonia Sotomayor suggested in 2017, we can’t know whether his death was “comparatively painless” or whether, as Denno says, South Carolina’s firing squad delivered a “swift and certain death.”
From Slate ● Mar. 11, 2025
The state asked the Supreme Court to toss out a lower court ruling after a 2022 trial that the electric chair and the firing squad are cruel and unusual punishments.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2023
The firing squad, the hallway, the flat screens.
From "Legend" by Marie Lu
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.
