capital punishment


noun

punishment by death for a crime; death penalty.

Origin of capital punishment

First recorded in 1575–85

Example sentences from the Web for capital punishment

  • The capital-punishment man was the Marquis of Beccaria, and that of makes a great difference in Europe.

    Stories of Invention |Edward E. Hale

British Dictionary definitions for capital punishment

capital punishment

noun

the punishment of death for a crime; death penalty

Cultural definitions for capital punishment (1 of 2)

capital punishment

The infliction of the death penalty as punishment for certain crimes. (See capital offense.)

notes for capital punishment

In the United States, capital punishment has been an extremely controversial issue on legal, moral, and ethical grounds. In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was not, in principle, cruel and unusual punishment (and not, therefore, unconstitutional), but that its implementation through existing state laws was unconstitutional. In 1976, the Supreme Court again ruled that the death penalty was not unconstitutional, though a mandatory death penalty for any crime was. Thirty-nine states now practice the death penalty.

Cultural definitions for capital punishment (2 of 2)

capital punishment

The death penalty for a crime.