1. to kill someone illegally by hanging, especially as punishment by a mob without a legal trial
Usage: often refers to historical racial violence in the American South

Examples

• The mob threatened to lynch the accused man before he could stand trial.
• Lynch mobs were a tragic part of American history during the post-Civil War era.
• Anti-lynching laws were passed to prevent vigilante justice.
• The community organized to prevent anyone from being lynched.
• Historical records document hundreds of people who were lynched between 1880 and 1930.