reprieve
[verb]
Synonyms:
- grant a stay of execution to, let off the hook (slang), pardon
- relieve, abate, allay, alleviate, mitigate, palliate
[noun]
Synonyms:
- stay of execution, amnesty, deferment, pardon, postponement, remission
- relief, alleviation, mitigation, palliation, respite

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. re‧prieve¹ /rɪˈpriːv/ noun [countable]

1. a delay before something bad happens or continues to happen ⇒ respite
reprieve from
Shoppers will get a temporary reprieve from the new sales tax.

2. an official order stopping the killing of a prisoner as a punishment
give/grant somebody a reprieve
The US Supreme Court voted against granting Smith a reprieve (=against giving him one).

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. reprieve² verb [transitive usually passive]
[Date: 1600-1700; Origin: Perhaps from Old French repris, past participle of reprendre; ⇒ reprise]

1. to officially stop a prisoner from being killed as a punishment

2. to change a decision to close a factory, school etc or get rid of something

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

reprieve
noun
ADJ. temporary | last-minute He was saved from the gallows by a last-minute reprieve.
VERB + REPRIEVE earn, gain, get, win | give sb/sth, grant (sb/sth) The railway line, due for closure, has been granted a six-month reprieve.
PREP. ~ from The family have won a temporary reprieve from eviction.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲