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Definition of "tyrannicide" [ty•ran•ni•ci•de]

  • The killing of a tyrant or despot. (noun)
  • One who kills a tyrant or despot. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "tyrannicide" in a sentence
  • "The parliament itself of Paris, the tribunal of justice, heard the harangues of the duke's advocate in defence of assassination, which he termed tyrannicide; and that assembly, partly influenced by faction, partly overawed by power, pronounced no sentence of condemnation against this detestable doctrine. ["
  • "For extreme cases some, he tells us, have suggested tyrannicide, that is, execution by private persons."
  • "The sixth is, when the commands are grievous; and they account him that commandeth grievous things, a tyrant; and tyrannicide, that is, the killing of a tyrant, not only lawful, but also laudable."