electrocute
/ɪˈlɛktrəkjuːt
/verb [with object]
Injure or kill (someone) by electric shock: a man was electrocuted on the rail track...
- But if someone just says his washing machine is a bad one, you don't know yet whether it tears the clothes into strips or soaks them in oily water or just doesn't move at all when you switch on, or electrocutes the children when they go near it.
- Simultaneously, shivers thundered up his spine as if electrocuting him.
- The principal electrical inspector at Health and Safety Executive, who investigated the incident said: ‘A fraction of an amp is all that is needed to electrocute you.’
Origin
Late 19th century: from electro-, on the pattern of execute.