reprieve

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To postpone or cancel the punishment of.
2. v. To bring relief to.
3. n. Postponement or cancellation of a punishment.
4. n. A warrant for such an action.
5. n. Temporary relief, as from danger or pain.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To acquit; set free; release.
2. To grant a respite to; suspend or delay the execution of for a time: as, to reprieve a criminal for thirty days.
3. To relieve for a time from any danger or suffering; respite; spare; save.
4. To secure a postponement of (an execution).
5. Synonyms See the noun.
6. n. The suspension of the execution of a criminal's sentence. Sometimes incorrectly used to signify a permanent remission or commutation of a capital sentence. In the United States reprieves may be granted by the President, by the governor of a State, governor and council, etc.; in Great Britain they are granted by the home secretary in the name of the sovereign. See pardon, 2.
7. n. Respite in general; interval of ease or relief; delay of something dreaded.
8. n. Synonyms Reprieve, Respite. Reprieve is now used chiefly in the sense of the first definition, to name a suspension or postponement of the execution of a sentence of death. Respite is a free word, applying to an intermission or postponement of something wearying, burdensome, or troublesome: as, respite from work. Respite may be for an indefinite or a definite time; a reprieve is generally for a time named. A respite may be a reprieve.

Wiktionary

1. v. transitive To cancel or postpone the punishment of someone, especially an execution.
2. v. transitive To bring relief to someone.
3. v. transitive, obsolete To take back to prison (in lieu of execution).
4. n. The cancellation or postponement of a punishment.
5. n. A document authorizing such an action.
6. n. Relief from pain etc., especially temporary.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To delay the punishment of; to suspend the execution of sentence on; to give a respite to; to respite.
2. v. To relieve for a time, or temporarily.
3. n. A temporary suspension of the execution of a sentence, especially of a sentence of death.
4. n. Interval of ease or relief; respite.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the act of reprieving; postponing or remitting punishment
2. n. an interruption in the intensity or amount of something
3. n. a warrant granting postponement (usually to postpone the execution of the death sentence)
4. n. a (temporary) relief from harm or discomfort
5. v. postpone the punishment of a convicted criminal, such as an execution
6. v. relieve temporarily