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Synonyms for lynching


Grammar : Noun
Spell : linch
Phonetic Transcription : lɪntʃ



Définition of lynching

Origin :
  • 1835, from earlier Lynch law (1811), likely named after William Lynch (1742-1820) of Pittsylvania, Virginia, who c.1780 led a vigilance committee to keep order there during the Revolution. Other sources trace the name to Charles Lynch (1736-1796) a Virginia magistrate who fined and imprisoned Tories in his district c.1782, but the connection to him is less likely. Originally any sort of summary justice, especially by flogging; narrowing of focus to "extralegal execution by hanging" is 20c. Lynch mob is attested from 1838. The surname is perhaps from Irish Loingseach "sailor." Cf. earlier Lydford law, from a place in Dartmoor, England, "where was held a Stannaries Court of summary jurisdiction" [Weekley], hence:
  • Lydford law: is to hang men first, and indite them afterwards. [Thomas Blount, "Glossographia," 1656]
  • Related: Lynched; lynching.
  • noun hanging
Example sentences :
  • An attempt at lynching was made in San Francisco about the same time.
  • Extract from : « The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 2, May, 1851 » by Various
  • They wanted a lynching, and no argument would dissuade them.
  • Extract from : « The Night Riders » by Ridgwell Cullum
  • And now fear began to seize the survivors of that lynching party.
  • Extract from : « When the West Was Young » by Frederick R. Bechdolt
  • The subject of lynching the fiends,—Walling and Jackson—was freely discussed.
  • Extract from : « The Mysterious Murder of Pearl Bryan » by Unknown
  • Lynching was one of the reasons most often given as a cause of the migration.
  • Extract from : « Negro Migration during the War » by Emmett J. Scott
  • "There's nothing left now but lynching," his friend continued.
  • Extract from : « Peak and Prairie » by Anna Fuller
  • There was going to be no lynching at Tascosa if he could help it.
  • Extract from : « Oh, You Tex! » by William Macleod Raine
  • Lynching, in the sense that we know it to-day, was almost unknown.
  • Extract from : « The Cave of Gold » by Everett McNeil
  • He was afraid of Rodaine—that Rodaine would get up a lynching party and string him up.
  • Extract from : « The Cross-Cut » by Courtney Ryley Cooper
  • It is, however, the belief of the masses, which they have recently shown in methods of lynching.
  • Extract from : « Folkways » by William Graham Sumner

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019