firing squad

noun

1. a military detachment assigned to execute a condemned person by shooting.

2. a military detachment assigned to fire a salute at the burial of a person being honored.

firing squad

noun

1. a small military detachment formed to implement a death sentence by shooting

Word History and Origins

Origin of firing squad¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Although the latter, the Romanian dictator, had his Order of the Bath honour taken away the day before he was shot by a firing squad, so it might not have seemed his biggest worry.

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They described how these executions are carried out by firing squads in public to instil fear in people and discourage them from breaking the law.

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On Christmas Day, Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were executed by firing squad after a trial at a military base that lasted two hours.

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Perhaps the lone exception in Eastern Europe was Romania, where Nicolae Ceaușescu — who had broken with Moscow years earlier — maintained a rigid dictatorship and cult of personality up until he faced a firing squad.

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Ainadamar is, in fact, the Arabic term for the Fountain of Tears, the site in Granada where Lorca was shot by a firing squad, presumably for political reasons as well as for being gay.

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