firing squads
Lethal volley detail
Firing squads is the plural of firing squad—a group of soldiers or officers assembled to execute a condemned person by gunfire.
The condemned typically stands against a wall or post while the squad fires simultaneously.
One rifle may contain a blank so no shooter knows with certainty that he fired a fatal shot.
He faced the firing squad at dawn.
Figuratively, facing a firing squad means confronting harsh collective judgment: The CEO walked into the board meeting like he was facing a firing squad.
- death penaltyLegal execution for crimes
- ready aim fireThree-step shooting command
- shootingDischarging a weapon
- riflesLong-barreled shoulder firearms
- soldiersMilitary personnel who fight
execution · against the wall · court-martial · World War II · fusillades · military tribunal · war crimes tribunal · treason charges · blindfold · last cigarette · Spanish Civil War · desertion · war crimes · French Revolution · mutiny · American Civil War · summary execution · punishment
- repressionsecret police, mass arrests, torture, disappearances, detention camps
- War Atrocitiestorture, mass graves, summary executions, concentration camps, prisoner abuse
firing squadselectric chair
Electrocution execution device
lethal injection · gas chamber · hanging · guillotine · beheading
firing squadspardon
Official release from punishment
clemency · amnesty · reprieve · commutation · stay of execution
firing squadsrescue teams
Groups saving endangered people
peacekeepers · honor guard · medics · humanitarian workers · lifeguards
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