Well-read · Often misused · Science & thinking
Electrocute: meaning, pronunciation and examples
Electrocute verb. To kill someone or something with an electric shock.
How to say it
ih-LEK-truh-kyoot/ɪˈlɛktrəkjuːt/
4 syllables, stressed on the second (LEK). Forms: electrocuted.
Electrocute in a sentence
The squirrel that electrocuted itself on the substation blacked out half the town.
Several states once used the electric chair to electrocute condemned prisoners.
Similar and opposite
Similar:
- kill by shock
Careful
Strictly, electrocute means to kill. Using it for a shock someone survives ('I electrocuted myself on the toaster') is very common and now in dictionaries, but 'got a shock' is clearer.
Where electrocute comes from
A blend of electro- and execute, coined in America in the late 1880s for the new electric chair.
Test yourself
Which word fills the gap?
Several states once used the electric chair to _____ condemned prisoners.
- comprise
- refute
- electrocute
Show the answer
electrocute: Several states once used the electric chair to electrocute condemned prisoners.