Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Topic: GRAMMAR

Date: 1200-1300
Language: Old French
Origin: Latin sententia 'feeling, opinion, sentence', from sentire; SENTIENT

sentence

1 noun
     
sen‧tence1 S1 W2 [countable]
1SLG a group of words that usually contains a subject and a verb, and expresses a complete idea. Sentences written in English begin with a capital letter and usually end with a full stop or a question mark:
His voice dropped at the end of the sentence.
in a sentence
It's difficult to sum it up in one sentence.
short/simple/full/complex etc sentence
In a few short sentences, Quinn explained what he had done.
2SCL a punishment that a judge gives to someone who is guilty of a crimeCOLLOCATIONS COLLOCATIONS
jail/prison sentence receive/be given a sentence impose a sentence on somebody formal pass sentence (=officially say what a punishment will be) stiff/heavy/long sentence (=a long time in prison) light/short sentence (=a short time in prison) life sentence (=the punishment of being in prison for the rest of your life) death sentence suspended sentence (=a sentence that someone serves only if they commit another crime) custodial sentence British English (=the punishment of spending time in prison) serve a sentence (=spend time in prison) carry a sentence (of something) (=used to say what the usual punishment is for a crime)
She received an eight-year prison sentence.
The judge will pass sentence tomorrow after looking at all the reports.
Drug traffickers will face stiffer sentences.
He got off with a relatively light sentence.
He has just begun a life sentence for murder.
Eventually the death sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court.
The judge gave him a suspended sentence and demanded that he pay $30,000 to a children's charity.
This offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified.
a prisoner serving a sentence for robbery
The offence carries a maximum sentence of five years.
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