To delay the punishment of; to suspend the execution of sentence on; to give a respite to; to respite; as, to reprieve a criminal for thirty days. He reprieves the sinnner from time to time. Rogers.
To relieve for a time, or temporarily. Company, thought it may reprieve a man from his melaneholy yet can not secure him from his conscience. South.
A temporary suspension of the execution of a sentence, especially of a sentence of death. The morning Sir John Hotham was to die, a reprieve was sent to suspend the execution for three days. Clarendon.
Interval of ease or relief; respite. All that I ask is but a short reprieve, ll I forget to love, and learn to grieve. Denham.
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