lynch

See also: Lynch

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɪnt͡ʃ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪntʃ
• Homophone: Lynch

Etymology 1

First attested 1835, from Lynch law, which appeared in 1811. There is a popular claim that it was named after William Lynch, but equally strong arguments would have it named after Charles Lynch. For the surname, see Lynch. Ultimately a possible doublet of linch.

Verb

lynch (third-person singular simple present lynches, present participle lynching, simple past and past participle lynched)

1. (transitive) To execute (somebody) without a proper legal trial or procedure, especially by hanging and backed by a mob.
   • 2018, “Europe's Flashpoints” (2:12 from the start), in Close Up — The Current Affairs Documentary‎^[1], episode 2, (narration regarding the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt) (actor), via Deutsche Welle TV, av-44888523, archived from the original on 31 July 2018:

     Public anger erupted. Soldiers were lynched in the streets including young recruits proven to have been deceived by their generals about the true intentions of the attack.

2. (transitive, colloquial, by extension) To castigate severely.
   • 2024, Louis Hagen, Suddenly an Englishman:

     I telephoned Bill Brandon in Oxford and begged him to get the new refrigeration unit into production before I got lynched.

Synonyms

• (execute without a proper legal trial): string up

Derived terms

• lynchable
• lynchee
• lynching
• lynch law
• lynchman
• lynch mob
• unlynched

Descendants

• → Czech: lynč
• → Danish: lynche
• → Esperanto: linĉi
• → French: lyncher
• → German: lynchen
• → Italian: linciare
• → Japanese: リンチ (rinchi)
• → Lithuanian: linčiúoti
• → Norwegian Bokmål: lynsje
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: lynsje
• → Russian: линчева́ть (linčevátʹ)
• → Spanish: linchar
• → Swedish: lyncha
• → Turkish: linç

Translations

execute without a proper legal trial

• Bulgarian: линчувам (bg) (linčuvam)
• Catalan: linxar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 執行私刑 / 执行私刑 (zhíxíng sīxíng)

• Czech: lynčovat (cs)
• Danish: lynche
• Dutch: lynchen (nl)
• Esperanto: linĉi
• Estonian: lintšima
• Finnish: lynkata (fi)
• French: lyncher (fr)
• Galician: linchar (gl)
• German: lynchen (de)
• Hungarian: meglincsel (hu)
• Irish: linseáil
• Italian: linciare (it)
• Japanese: リンチを加える (rinchi-o kuwaeru), 私刑を加える (shikei-o kuwaeru)
• Lithuanian: linčiúoti
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lynsje (no)

  Nynorsk: lynsje, lynsja

• Polish: linczować (pl), zlinczować (pl)
• Portuguese: linchar (pt)
• Russian: линчева́ть (ru) (linčevátʹ), расправля́ться самосу́дом (raspravljátʹsja samosúdom)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ли̏нчовати

  Latin: lȉnčovati (sh)

• Spanish: linchar (es)
• Swedish: lyncha (sv)
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can
• Thai: ลงประชาทัณฑ์ (long-bprà-chaa-tan)
• Turkish: linç etmek (tr), linçlemek
• Vietnamese: lin-sơ, linsơ, hành quyết, hành xác

See also

• kangaroo court
• show trial

Etymology 2

Noun

lynch (plural lynches)

1. Alternative form of linch.

Derived terms

• lynchable
• lynchee
• lynchet

German

Verb

lynch

1. singular imperative of lynchen
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of lynchen