sentence

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A grammatical unit that is syntactically independent and has a subject that is expressed or, as in imperative sentences, understood and a predicate that contains at least one finite verb.
2. n. Law A court judgment, especially a judicial decision of the punishment to be inflicted on one adjudged guilty.
3. n. Law The penalty meted out.
4. n. Archaic A maxim.
5. n. Obsolete An opinion, especially one given formally after deliberation.
6. v. Law To pronounce sentence upon (one adjudged guilty). See Synonyms at condemn.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. Way of thinking; opinion; sentiment; judgment; decision.
2. n. A saying; a maxim; an axiom.
3. n. A verdict, judgment, decision, or decree; specifically, in law, a definitive judgment pronounced by a court or judge upon a criminal; a judicial decision publicly and officially declared in a criminal prosecution. In technical language sentence is used only for the declaration of judgment against one convicted of a crime or in maritime causes. In civil cases the decision of a court is called a judgment or a decree. In criminal cases sentence is a judgment pronounced; doom.
4. n. In grammar, a form of words having grammatical completeness; a number of words constituting a whole, as the expression of a statement, inquiry, or command; a combination of subject and predicate. A sentence is either assertive, as he is good; or interrogative, as is he good ? or imperative, as be good ! Sentences are also classed as simple, compound, or complex; simple, if divisible into a single subject and a single predicate; compound, if containing more than one subject or predicate or both; and complex, if including a subordinate sentence or clause: as, he who is good is happy; I like what you like; he goes when I come. Sentences are further classed as independent and as dependent or subordinate (the latter being more often called a clause than a sentence); a dependent sentence is one which enters with the value of a single part of speech—either noun or adjective or adverb—into the structure of another sentence.
5. n. Sense; meaning.
6. n. Substance; matter; contents.
7. n. In music, a complete idea, usually consisting of two or four phrases. The term is used somewhat variously as to length, but it always applies to a division that is complete and satisfactory in itself.
8. To pass or pronounce sentence or judgment on; condemn; doom to punishment.
9. To pronounce as judgment; express as a decision or determination; decree.
10. To express in a short, energetic, sententious manner.
11. n. A brief response or antiphon sung by the choir in a church service.

Wiktionary

1. n. One's opinion; manner of thinking. [14th-17th c.]
2. n. Someone's pronounced opinion or judgment on a given question. [from 14th c.]
3. n. The decision or judgement of a jury or court; a verdict. [from 14th c.]
4. n. The judicial order for a punishment to be imposed on a person convicted of a crime. [from 14th c.]
5. n. A saying, especially form a great person; a maxim, an apophthegm. [14th-19th c.]
6. n. A grammatically complete series of words consisting of a subject and predicate, even if one or the other is implied, and typically beginning with a capital letter and ending with a full stop. [from 15th c.]
7. n. A formula with no free variables. [from 20th c.]
8. n. Any of the set of strings that can be generated by a given formal grammar. [from 20th c.]
9. v. To declare a sentence on a convicted person.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. Sense; meaning; significance.
2. n. An opinion; a decision; a determination; a judgment, especially one of an unfavorable nature.
3. n. A philosophical or theological opinion; a dogma.
4. n. In civil and admiralty law, the judgment of a court pronounced in a cause; in criminal and ecclesiastical courts, a judgment passed on a criminal by a court or judge; condemnation pronounced by a judicial tribunal; doom. In common law, the term is exclusively used to denote the judgment in criminal cases.
5. n. A short saying, usually containing moral instruction; a maxim; an axiom; a saw.
6. n. A combination of words which is complete as expressing a thought, and in writing is marked at the close by a period, or full point. See Proposition, 4.
7. v. To pass or pronounce judgment upon; to doom; to condemn to punishment; to prescribe the punishment of.
8. v. To decree or announce as a sentence.
9. v. To utter sententiously.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the period of time a prisoner is imprisoned
2. n. (criminal law) a final judgment of guilty in a criminal case and the punishment that is imposed
3. v. pronounce a sentence on (somebody) in a court of law
4. n. a string of words satisfying the grammatical rules of a language