mercy killing
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of mercy killing
First recorded in 1930–35
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.
She described mercy killing of the terminally ill an “incredibly important debate that we are not allowed to have simply because of where we live.”
From Seattle Times • Jul. 31, 2022
California’s law prohibits the practice from being referred to as euthanasia, mercy killing, assisted suicide or homicide.
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2016
The Great Kershaw versus the hitless wonders known as the Mets qualifies as a mercy killing.
From New York Times • Jul. 24, 2015
The record blew my ears off with its triple-layered wordplay and its incisored, insider’s view of small-town life-cycle letdowns—all delivered like a mercy killing by a singer who’d just turned 24.
From Slate • Jun. 26, 2015
Both the hospital authorities and the Andhra Pradesh high court refused his request to turn off his life support system, saying that would amount to an illegal mercy killing.
From BBC • Jan. 25, 2011
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.
