death warrant

Học thuật
Thân thiện
Definition

Noun: 1. An official order authorizing the execution of a person sentenced to death: A legal document issued by a court or governing authority that commands the carrying out of a death sentence. 2. (Figuratively) An action or event that ensures the failure or destruction of something: Something that causes the inevitable end or ruin of a plan, project, or situation.

Usage Examples
  • The judge signed the death warrant after the final appeal was denied.
  • The new evidence was so compelling that it acted as a death warrant for the prosecution's case.
  • Signing that contract without reading the fine print was the death warrant for his business.
Advanced Usage
  • "to sign one's own death warrant": To take an action that leads to one's own downfall or ruin.
    • By betraying the leader, he effectively signed his own death warrant within the organization.
Variants and Related Words
  • Execution order (noun phrase): A direct synonym for the primary legal meaning.
  • Warrant (noun): A broader term for an official authorization or document.
Synonyms
  • Execution order
  • Death sentence (note: "death sentence" is the judicial pronouncement, while a "death warrant" is the document ordering it to be carried out)
  • Doom (for the figurative sense)
Related Phrases
  • Carry out a death warrant: To execute the order.
    • The state prepared to carry out the death warrant.
Noun
  1. a warrant to execute the death sentence