put to death

death  (dth)

n.

1. The act of dying; termination of life.

2. The state of being dead.

3. The cause of dying: Drugs were the death of him.

4. A manner of dying: a heroine's death.

5. often Death A personification of the destroyer of life, usually represented as a skeleton holding a scythe.

6.

a. Bloodshed; murder.

b. Execution.

7. Law Civil death.

8. The termination or extinction of something: the death of imperialism.

Idioms:

at death's door

Near to death; gravely ill or injured.

be the death of

To distress or irritate to an intolerable degree.

death on

Opposed to or strict about: Our boss is death on casual dressing.

put to death

To execute.

to death

To an intolerable degree; extremely: worried to death.

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[Middle English deeth, from Old English dath; see dheu-² in Indo-European roots.]

Thesaurus

Verb

1.

put to death - kill as a means of socially sanctioned punishment; "In some states, criminals are executed" execute kill - cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly; "This man killed several people when he tried to rob a bank"; "The farmer killed a pig for the holidays" crucify - kill by nailing onto a cross; "Jesus Christ was crucified" execute - murder in a planned fashion; "The Mafioso who collaborated with the police was executed" burn - burn at the stake; "Witches were burned in Salem" string up, hang - kill by hanging; "The murderer was hanged on Friday" penalise, penalize, punish - impose a penalty on; inflict punishment on; "The students were penalized for showing up late for class"; "we had to punish the dog for soiling the floor again"