ˈdeath ˌsentence noun [countableC] 1 SCLthe official punishment of death, ordered by a judge 〔由法官判处的〕死刑 He received a death sentence. 他被判处死刑。
Premeditated murder carries (=is punished by) the death sentence. 谋杀要判死刑。
2 something such as an illness that makes you sure you will die 绝症;必然致死的事物 Cancer is no longer a death sentence. 癌症已不再是不治之症了。
3 an action or decision that is very harmful to someone or something 造成严重损害的行动[决定] In 1987, the government passed a death sentence on the river by granting permission for the new dam. 1987 年政府批准修建新的水坝,给这条河判了死刑。
death sentence• A golf course will be a death sentence to the local ecosystem.• Gilmore received a death sentence.• There was a time when it was 15 years from the time a death sentence was first issued.• How do we work out the fact that a firing from one job can become an employment death sentence?• He faces a possible death sentence.• The recent death sentence on a high-ranking official is cited as evidence that corruption is at last being taken seriously.• Federal courts would be empowered to impose the death sentence for 51 crimes. passed ... death sentence on• She felt suddenly, confusedly, a little like a man who had voluntarily passed a death sentence on himself.