death warrant
17
8.0
- noun
- /dɛθ ˈwɔːrənt/
- Formal
:
orden de ejecución
- After the trial, the governor refused to sign the death warrant for the convicted murderer.
- sign death warrant
- own death warrant
And there's the death warrant for Chris in his view, signed like it's it's ready to be delivered.
- And there's the death warrant for Chris in his view, signed like it's it's ready to be delivered.
Examples
-
Congress would be signing its own political death warrant.
Fiction book (1990) -
I beg you not to sign the death warrant of so many until you have listened to my terms.
Fiction book (1992) -
You just signed a death warrant on your career, Major.
-
You just signed my death warrant.
-
You have signed our death warrant!
-
You just signed your death warrant.
-
Sam, this is your death warrant.
-
Any other answer would be her death warrant.
Fiction book (2001) -
You just signed your own death warrant, Hoitz!
-
He signed his own death warrant.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A signed royal order that sends someone to prison or death
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly compositional: 'warrant' is an official legal document and 'death' specifies the action being authorized, so the combined meaning (a legal order authorizing execution) is predictable from the parts. This pattern mirrors other transparent legal compounds like 'arrest warrant' or 'search warrant' and is likely understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Death warrant comes from a simple image: a paper called a warrant that orders a person's death, usually signed by a judge or governor. So today it means 'an official order to put someone to death'.