death row
- noun
- /dɛθ roʊ/
- Say, a person waiting on death row?
- a death row inmate
- a death row prisoner
- appeal from death row
He was on death row for a crime.
- He was on death row for a crime.
- So he's sitting on death row forever until he dies in prison.
- I'm not there, but he was on death row.
- And I met a guy from Uganda who was on death row.
- Defendant is charged and convicted and in prison on death row.
- This is the man who fights for justice and mercy for those on death row.
- A couple of years ago, she was all about trying to get people off death row.
- So your new book, Dead Men Talking looks at killers that are on death row.
- No, I don't remember how many years, but he spent a few years in prison and on the death row too.
- And by the way, there was a dude who was on death row, and they had found evidence that would free him.
- I made a film, Into the Abyss on death row inmates.
- I keep telling people death row was the greatest adventure of my life.
- I was so clever that while I was on death row, I circumnavigated the planet.
Examples
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Ronnie Lee Bowling is on Kentucky's death row for two murders he claims he didn't commit.
Academic text (2004) -
And by the way, there was a dude who was on death row, and they had found evidence that would free him.
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I also worked as a volunteer with death row inmates for six years.
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The conditions on death row are so inhumane that some would prefer death.
Academic text (2000) -
Speaker, Asia Bibi spent eight years on death row in Pakistan for a crime she did not commit.
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He fights for those on death row who are often young and black and forgotten and even despised.
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There are currently 450 inmates on death row in this state prison, each awaiting their fate.
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The documentary revealed the harsh realities faced by those living on death row for many years.
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After extensive legal battles, the man was finally removed from death row when new evidence proved his innocence.
Synonyms
A part of a prison where people sentenced to die wait for their execution
Antonyms
How Restricted
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase directly composes 'death' (end of life) with 'row' (a line or set of cells), so a learner can infer it denotes the row/section of a prison associated with death sentences — i.e. where prisoners awaiting execution are held. This is a straightforward noun–noun composition and the institutional sense exists cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would likely deduce the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase death row may come from the image of a long row of prison cells where people sentenced to death waited for execution. So today death row means the part of a prison where prisoners are 'waiting for execution'.