death row
Noun: - The cellblock in a prison where those condemned to death await execution: A designated section of a prison where inmates who have received a death sentence are held while awaiting their execution or the outcome of their appeals.
The term "death row" is used to refer to the specific location and the legal status of the inmates within it. It is typically used with prepositions like on, in, or from. - He has been on death row for fifteen years. - The new evidence could remove her from death row. - Conditions in the state's death row have been criticized.
- "Death row inmate/ prisoner": A common compound noun used to specify a person held in this section.
- The lawyers filed a last-minute appeal for the death row inmate.
- The concept is often discussed in contexts of law, human rights, criminal justice, and ethics.
- Death house (noun): A less common synonym, sometimes referring specifically to the building or area housing the execution chamber and the cells immediately preceding an execution.
- Condemned unit
- Execution block (context-specific)
"Death row" functions as a singular noun phrase. While it refers to a place for multiple inmates, one says "on death row," not "on a death row" or "on the death row" in most general contexts (though "the death row" can be used when specifying a particular one, e.g., "the death row at that prison").
- the cellblock in a prison where those condemned to death await execution