Legal Definitions - lynch

Definition: To kill somebody without legal authority, usually by hanging, done by a mob.

1. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, African Americans were often lynched by white mobs in the southern United States.

2. The accused thief was dragged out of his cell by an angry mob and lynched in the town square.

These examples illustrate how lynching involves a group of people taking the law into their own hands and killing someone without a trial or legal authority. It is a violent and illegal act that often targets marginalized groups, such as African Americans in the United States.