death penalty
Americannoun
-
death penalties
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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 was sentenced to death, but that sentence was commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole after the death penalty was ruled unconstitutional in 1972.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
So we decided to break our silence to say publicly that we don’t want the death penalty imposed in the case involving our daughter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Diplomats have issued repeated assurances that Lee isn’t facing the death penalty.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Pike was given the death penalty in 1996, but Shipp - who was 17 - was given a life sentence with the possibility of parole, and he remains in prison.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
California voters also came very close to banning the death penalty; the ballot initiative lost by only a couple of percentage points.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
