give someone the chair

verb

To sentence a person to execution by means of the electric chair.

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Meanings

verbgive someone the chair (third-person singular simple present gives someone the chair, present participle giving someone the chair, simple past gave someone the chair, past participle given someone the chair)

present singular third person gives someone the chair · participle present giving someone the chair · past gave someone the chair · participle past given someone the chair

  1. USidiomaticTo sentence a person to execution by means of the electric chair.

    Joseph O'Dell, convicted of a brutal rape and murder, was sentenced to death after a Virginia prosecutor told the jury that if they didn't give him the chair, he'd one day get out and be free to kill again.

    1997 July 7, Sidney Zion, “High Court Takes Low Road to Justice”, in New York Daily News, retrieved 03 Mar 2009
Cite this entry
APA

give someone the chair. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/give%20someone%20the%20chair

MLA

“give someone the chair.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/give%20someone%20the%20chair. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “give someone the chair,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/give%20someone%20the%20chair.

Source: give someone the chair on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.