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life sentence
noun
: the punishment of being sent to prison for the rest of one's life
He received a life sentence for his crimes.
Examples of life sentence in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Across two decades, The Jinx director has explored the true-crime tale of the New York real estate heir who was suspected of three murders across his life, which ended in 2022 at age 78 not long after a guilty verdict and prison life sentence was handed down in one of those murders.
—Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 May 2024
Christopher Dunn, 52, was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder conviction in the death of Rico Rogers, a 15-year-old who was shot to death in May 1990.
—Tesfaye Negussie, ABC News, 22 May 2024
Dunn's conviction and life sentence without parole hinged on the testimonies of two witnesses — a preteen and a young teenager — who have since admitted to lying during the trial.
—CBS News, 21 May 2024
Demonized by the press and reviled by the public, Letby is only the fourth woman in UK history to receive a life sentence.
—Longreads, 17 May 2024
The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction and life sentence of a woman in the 2017 death and dismemberment of a Nebraska hardware store clerk.
—CBS News, 10 May 2024
In addition to the 45 years to life sentence for second-degree murder, Montgomery was also sentenced to 4 to 8 years for assault, 3.5 to 7 years for witness tampering and 3.5 to 7 years for falsifying evidence.
—Stepheny Price, Fox News, 9 May 2024
Brady was also one of several speakers who made jokes at the expense of Aaron Hernandez, the former Patriots tight end who hanged himself in a prison cell in 2017 while serving a life sentence for first-degree murder.
—Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2024
The guilty verdict — which carries a life sentence — came almost exactly three months after Asberry was acquitted of murder in the shooting death of Randhir Kaur, a 37-year-old UCSF dental student who was killed inside her Albany home.
—Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News, 30 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'life sentence.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near life sentence
Cite this Entry
“Life sentence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/life%20sentence. Accessed 29 May. 2024.
Legal Definition
life sentence
see sentence
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