1. the illegal killing of someone by a mob, especially by hanging
Usage: often refers to historical acts of racial violence

Examples

• The museum exhibit documented the history of lynching in the American South.
• Civil rights activists worked to end the practice of lynching.
• The anti-lynching legislation was passed to protect citizens from mob violence.
• Historians study lynching as a form of racial terrorism.
• The community condemned the lynching and demanded justice.
• Federal laws were enacted to prosecute those involved in lynching.