sentence: Meaning and Definition of

sen•tence

Pronunciation: (sen'tns), [key]
— n., v., -tenced, -tenc•ing.
—n.
  1. a grammatical unit of one or more words, bearing minimal syntactic relation to the words that precede or follow it, often preceded and followed in speech by pauses, having one of a small number of characteristic intonation patterns, and typically expressing an independent statement, question, request, command, etc., as Summer is here. or Who is it? or Stop!
    1. an authoritative decision; a judicial judgment or decree, esp. the judicial determination of the punishment to be inflicted on a convicted criminal.
    2. the punishment itself.
  2. a period.
  3. a saying, apothegm, or maxim.
  4. an opinion given on a particular question.
—v.t.
  1. to pronounce sentence upon; condemn to punishment.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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