pass sentence
idiom
law
: to announce a guilty person's punishment in a court of law
Before passing sentence, the judge commented on the seriousness of the crime.
Examples of pass sentence in a Sentence
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The job of the judge and jury in Saint Omer, the small city in northern France where the trial takes place, is to figure out why Laurence killed Elise and to pass sentence on her.
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A.o. Scott, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2023
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A.o. Scott, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2023
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“Pass sentence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pass%20sentence. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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