lynch

¹ American  

[linch] / lɪntʃ /

verb (used with object)

1. to put to death, especially by hanging, by mob action and without legal authority.

   In the 19th and 20th centuries, thousands of southern African Americans were lynched by white mobs.

2. to criticize, condemn, etc., in public.

   He’s been unfairly lynched in the media.

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Lynch ² American  

[linch] / lɪntʃ /

noun

1. John Jack, 1917–1999, Irish political leader: prime minister 1966–73, 1977–79.

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Lynch ¹ British  

/ lɪntʃ /

noun

1. David. born 1946, US film director; his work includes the films Eraserhead (1977), Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), Mulholland Drive (2001), and Inland Empire (2006), and the television series Twin Peaks (1990)

2. John, known as Jack Lynch. 1917–99, Irish statesman; prime minister of the Republic of Ireland (1966–73; 1977–79)

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lynch ² British  

/ lɪntʃ /

verb

1. (tr) (of a mob) to punish (a person) for some supposed offence by hanging without a trial

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Related Words

See hang.

Other Word Forms

• antilynching adjective
• lyncher noun
• lynching noun

Etymology

Origin of lynch

An Americanism first recorded in 1825–35; verb use of lynch in lynch law

Example Sentences

In 1962, the white lawyer in “To Kill a Mockingbird” confronts a lynch mob intent on hanging his client, an innocent Black man, later telling the jury, “In our courts, all men are created equal.”

From New York Times • Sep. 7, 2022

Angry readers wrote to The Times in response to my favorable review of the series, insisting I was part of a lynch mob: “Shame on you!”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2021

The verb to lynch means to execute without a trial or due process.

From Washington Times • Oct. 23, 2019

I learned that my fellow Seattleites found equivalency between a lynch mob and a mere Civil War re-enactment.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 29, 2017

“Oh, that. Well, to hear the Post tell it, we lynch ’em for breakfast; the Journal doesn’t care; and the Times is so wrapped up in its duty to posterity it bores you to death.

From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee