manslaughter

plural manslaughters

1. countableobsoleteuncountableThe slaying of a human being.

   For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind.

   1930, Marmaduke Pickthall, transl., The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, surah 5, verse 32, page 123

2. countableuncountablelawThe unlawful killing of a human, either in negligence or incidentally to the commission of some unlawful act, but without specific malice, or upon a sudden excitement of anger; considered less culpable than murder, but more culpable than justifiable homicide.

   1 more example

   In 2003, Christopher Below was in an interrogation room at the Evansville Police Department when he admitted to Detective Scott Thomas of the Evansville Police Department that he had shot Kathern Fetzer in his apartment and disposed of the body in a commercial trash bin. Her remains were never recovered, and Below pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

   2026 August 6, Nicholas Muhoro, “An Ohio Teen Vanished During a One-Mile Drive in 1994. Her Locked Car Was Found Hours Later”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 06 Aug 2026