capital punishmentˌcapital ˈpunishment ●○○ noun [uncountable] 
Examples
ExamplesEXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
Thesaurus- He seems to become especially intense when questioning turns to the issue of capital punishment.
- It called for a free vote on marijuana, and also for possible referendums on abortion and the restoration of capital punishment.
- On the question whether on merits it would be desirable to abolish capital punishment Ministers were divided.
- Our eagerness for capital punishment echoes the mentality of the old slave code.
- The back-to-back executions would quicken the pace of capital punishment in Maryland.
- The minutes continued: The Cabinet then discussed the question of the abolition of capital punishment.
- There were a few men and women dressed in black, who waited as silent witnesses to the obscenity of capital punishment.
- This whole capital punishment thing is becoming a real pain in the neck for a civilized society.
Longman Language Activatorwhen someone is killed as a punishment► execute
punishment which involves killing someone who has committed a crime → death penalty to kill someone as a punishment for a serious crime: · King Charles I was executed on 30th January 1649.· The two young men spent 6 months in jail waiting to be executed.execute somebody for something (=because of a particular crime): · This is a backward and cruel society, in which people are executed for homosexuality and adultery.
► put somebody to death written to officially arrange for someone that you have power over to be killed - used especially in historical descriptions: · The chief priests wanted to arrest Jesus and put him to death.· No woman had been put to death in the state since the American Revolution.have somebody put to death: · The queen would have people put to death for her own amusement.
► capital punishment the system of killing criminals as a legal punishment: · I don't believe bringing back capital punishment would reduce crime.· Most people that we questioned were against capital punishment.
► the death penalty the legal punishment of being killed for a serious crime: · The death penalty does not exist in Britain.· Do you think they should bring back the death penalty?carry the death penalty (=to be a crime for which the punishment is death): · Murder is one of the few offences that carries the death penalty.
► death sentence the punishment of death that a judge decides to give to someone who is guilty of a serious crime: receive/be given a death sentence: · He is the youngest person ever to be given a death sentence in San Diego County.
► capital offence British /capital offense American, also capital crime an offence or crime that will be punished by death: · Drug-smuggling is a capital offence in many countries.
► be on death row if a criminal is on death row , they are in prison before being killed as punishment for a crime, especially in the US: · Larson has been on death row since 1995 for murdering a taxi driver.
► condemned a condemned man, prisoner etc is in prison before he or she is killed as punishment for a crime: · The state allows no communication with a condemned man.· Here are the kitchens where the condemned prisoner's last meal was prepared.