From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsentencesen‧tence1 /ˈsentəns/ ●●● S1 W2 noun [countable] 1 SLGWORD, PHRASE, OR SENTENCEa 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.2 SCTPUNISHa punishment that a judge gives to someone who is guilty of a crime She received an eight-year prison sentence. He has just begun a life sentence for murder.► see thesaurus at punishmentCOLLOCATIONS – Meaning 2: a punishment that a judge gives to someone who is guilty of a crimeverbsget/receive a sentence (also be given a sentence)She was given a three-year prison sentence.face a sentence (=be likely to receive a sentence)He faces a long prison sentence if he is caught.serve a sentence (=spend time in prison)Her husband is serving a two-year sentence for credit-card fraud.a crime carries a sentence (=that is the punishment for that crime)Rape should carry an automatic life sentence.impose/hand down a sentence (=officially give someone a sentence)The judge imposed a three-year sentence.pass sentence formal (=officially say what someone’s punishment will be)It is now my duty to pass sentence.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + sentencea stiff/long sentence (=a long time in prison)Police officers are demanding stiffer sentences for offenders.a light/short sentence (=a short time in prison)We’re hoping that he gets off with a light sentence.a prison/jail sentence (also a custodial sentence British English formal)If found guilty, he faces a long jail sentence.a non-custodial sentence British English formal (=a punishment in which a person does not go to prison)The judge said the offence was too serious for a non-custodial sentence.a five-year/eight-year etc sentence (=five/eight etc years in prison)He was serving an eight-year sentence for burglary.the maximum sentence (=the most that can be given for a particular crime)The maximum sentence for this offence is five years.a life sentence (=prison for the rest of your life, or a very long time)In 1978 he was given a life sentence for attacking a 72-year-old woman.a death sentence (=a punishment of death)Death sentences were handed down to eight of the accused.a suspended sentence (=one which someone will serve only if they commit another crime)Her attacker got a two-year suspended sentence.
Examples from the Corpus
sentence• He was recently freed after serving a sentence for leading anti-government riots.• That this is important was shown by one of the authors in two studies analysing sentences in the London courts in 1983.• Carl is a man of clipped sentences and positive, energetic action.• Write a complete sentence for each answer.• If found guilty of first-degree murder, Bangham could face a death sentence.• Richardson was convicted of murder and given a death sentence.• The victim's family are demanding the death sentence for his attacker.• Belfast Appeal Court increased his sentence from five to nine years.• Croy is currently serving a life sentence for the 1992 rape and murder of an Iowa woman.• Berger is serving a life sentence for the murders.• Hailey is serving a life sentence, and is reported to be in poor health.• Evans was given a light sentence in return for giving information to the police.• If convicted of the charges against him, Blackburn could receive a maximum sentence of 30 years.• Neale is finishing a three-month sentence for petty theft.• The opening sentence of the book defines the concept of Tai-Chi-Chuan.• Judge Evans will pass sentence on the three men tomorrow.• In all three examples, clues to the type of question are contained in the preceding sentence.• Moore began an eighteen-month prison sentence in November.• He got a 10-year prison sentence.• a six-year prison sentence• Try to write using short, punchy sentences.• Describe your best friend in a single sentence.• In cases of conduction aphasia, comprehension of spoken words and simple spoken sentences can be intact.• Before long, the sentence makes no sense, but the sound of the nonsense is rich.• Often you can salve their indignation and solve this problem by rewording the sentence.• Only 14 days for the seven years to be increased to the sentence that fits his crimes and his evil - life.• As this sentence was pronounced, each sanam slid from its pedestal and smashed to the ground.• Perrault is serving a 15-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion.in a sentence• Also, they commonly appear as subordinate elements in a sentence where the main clause indicates the speaker.• He has about four months remaining in a sentence imposed by a federal judge in Boston June 15,1994.• The sounds in sentences subtest involves the child being told a story which is illustrated with pictures.• Speak in sentences rather than individual words.• She was slow to talk, but when she did, she quickly learned to talk in sentences.• Repeated Words Signs: Words repeated four or five times in an average paragraph or three or more times in a sentence.• All have large vocabularies and sets of rules for putting words together in sentences.• Adverb position illustrates how hard it is to say positively what goes with what in a sentence.sentencesentence2 ●●○ verb [transitive] SCTPUNISHif a judge sentences someone who is guilty of a crime, they give them a punishmentsentence somebody to something Sanchez was sentenced to three years in prison.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
sentence• She returned anyhow, was sentenced but reprieved, and found herself expelled for the fourth time.• Brown will be sentenced for a series of sexual assaults.• The judge said that his was a very serious crime, and sentenced him to eight years in prison.• She is to be sentenced later.• The judge sentenced Margolis to a year in prison.• Green is free on bail until his sentencing on June 27, when he faces up to 25 years in prison.• But worse than that, the man was sentenced to death and was in custody!• 60 prisoners have been sentenced to death in political trials.• He was sentenced to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.• Tyson was convicted of rape in 1992 and sentenced to six years' imprisonment.• He was found guilty and sentenced to three years' imprisonment.• Some countries will sentence you to seven or more years in prison for drug offences.sentence somebody to something• She was sentenced to three years in prison.Origin sentence1 (1200-1300) Old French Latin sententia “feeling, opinion, sentence”, from sentire; → SENTIENT 