reprieve
Plural: reprieves
Noun
- a (temporary) relief from harm or discomfort
- an interruption in the intensity or amount of something
- a warrant granting postponement (usually to postpone the execution of the death sentence)
- the act of reprieving; postponing or remitting punishment
- The cancellation or postponement of a punishment.
- A document authorizing such an action.
- Relief from pain etc., especially temporary.
- A cancellation or postponement of a proposed event undesired by many.
Verb
Verb Forms: reprieved, reprieving, reprieves
- To postpone or cancel punishment; to give temporary relief.
- postpone the punishment of a convicted criminal, such as an execution
- relieve temporarily
- To cancel or postpone the punishment of someone, especially an execution.
- To bring relief to someone.
- To take back to prison (in lieu of execution).
- To abandon or postpone plans to close, withdraw or abolish (something).
Examples
- Drawing a blank tile offered a reprieve when he had no good plays.
- The prisoner was saved from execution; the governor had requested a reprieve.
Origin / Etymology
First use appears c. 1513 in the writings of Robert Fabyan. In the sense of “to take back to prison”, from Middle English repryen (“to remand, detain”) (1494), possibly from Middle French repris, in the form of reprendre (“take back”); a cognate to reprise. The sense has become generalized, but does retain connotations of punishment and execution. The noun's first use appears c. 1592.
Synonyms
Scrabble Score: 13
reprieve: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordreprieve: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
reprieve: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary