reprieve
noun/rɪˈpriːv/
/rɪˈpriːv/
[usually singular]- an official order stopping a punishment, especially for a prisoner who is condemned to death
- He was saved from the gallows by a last-minute reprieve.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- brief
- temporary
- welcome
- …
- earn
- gain
- get
- …
- reprieve from
- a delay before something bad happens
- Campaigners have won a reprieve for the hospital threatened with closure.
Extra Examples- The school was granted a six-month reprieve.
- This house offers no reprieve from the heat.
- The railway line, due for closure, has been granted a six-month reprieve.
- The family has won a temporary reprieve from eviction.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- brief
- temporary
- welcome
- …
- earn
- gain
- get
- …
- reprieve from
Word Originlate 15th cent. (as the past participle repryed): from Anglo-Norman French repris, past participle of reprendre, from Latin re- ‘back’ + prehendere ‘seize’. The insertion of -v- (16th cent.) remains unexplained. Sense development has undergone a reversal, from the early meaning ‘send back to prison’, via ‘postpone a legal process’, to the current sense ‘rescue from impending punishment’.
Check pronunciation:
reprieve