lynch mob

[ linch-mob ]
See synonyms for lynch mob on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a crowd of people without legal authority who are intent on putting someone to death for an alleged offense: The city was once a real frontier town of gunslingers, lynch mobs, and vigilante justice.African Americans were regularly attacked by white lynch mobs if they "stepped out of line."

  2. a group of people who publicly accuse and attack someone in a vicious way in an effort to destroy their reputation: After his controversial ruling, the judge was the victim of a lynch mob on social media.

adjective
  1. Also lynch-mob . relating to or characteristic or reminiscent of a group of people trying to destroy someone’s reputation or kill someone without legal authority: There was a lynch mob mentality coming out in a number of the posts, so the moderator shut down the thread.The basic facts of the incident were lost in the lynch-mob atmosphere that prevailed on campus.

verb (used with object)
  1. lynch-mob . (of a group) to publicly accuse and attack someone in a vicious way in an effort to destroy their reputation: Let's try to be fair and not lynch-mob the whole video gaming industry over this one bad outcome.

Origin of lynch mob

1
First recorded in 1830–40

Words Nearby lynch mob

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use lynch mob in a sentence

  • You're a respectable-looking duck; you ever have any experience leading a lynch mob?

    Four-Day Planet | Henry Beam Piper
  • Could it be that city officials were working hand in glove with the lynch mob?

    The Centralia Conspiracy | Ralph Chaplin