Reprieve

/ɹɪˈpɹiːv/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive) To cancel or postpone the punishment of someone, especially an execution..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To cancel or postpone the punishment of someone, especially an execution.
2. (transitive) To bring relief to someone.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To take back to prison (in lieu of execution).
4. (transitive) To abandon or postpone plans to close, withdraw or abolish (something).
5. The cancellation or postponement of a punishment.
6. A document authorizing such an action.
7. Relief from pain etc., especially temporary.
8. A cancellation or postponement of a proposed event undesired by many.

Example Sentences

Company […] may reprieve a man from his melancholy, yet it cannot secure him from his conscience.

At the time of writing the halts have been reprieved due to doubts as to the legality of the withdrawal of services. It is feared that this reprieve may not outlast the summer timetable which, on the section in question, provides only a skeleton of the former service.

The prisoner was saved from execution; the governor had requested a reprieve.

Yet it was not easy, on the balance of play, to be convinced by Pellegrini and his defeated players that the reprieve might somehow be a defining moment over the two legs.

And it said there was no reprieve for 435 stations already approved for closure before the report appeared.

Synonyms for reprieve

Antonyms for reprieve

Related Words

Word Forms

• reprieves
• reprieving
• reprieved
• repryve
• reprive

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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