Westinghousing was a late 19th century slang term for the death penalty administered by
electrocution in the
electric chair. This term is attributed to Thomas Edison by some historians. Edison advocated a direct current system and Westinghouse advocated an alternating current system. Edison suggested alternating current be used for
electrocution because he felt AC was more likely to be lethal. Edison sought to discredit Westinghouse by this use of AC.