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   respite

   /ˈrɛspʌɪt/

   noun

   • 1. a short period of rest or relief from something difficult or unpleasant: "the refugee encampments will provide some respite from the suffering" Similar restbreakbreathing spaceintervalintermissioninterluderecesslullpausetime outhiatushaltstopstoppagecessationdiscontinuationstandstillreliefrelaxationreposeinformal:breatherlet-up
   • ▪ a short delay permitted before an unpleasant obligation is met or a punishment is carried out: "a Letter of Licence, by which creditors agreed to postpone claims, brought only temporary respite" Similar postponementdefermentdelaystaystay of executionreprieveremissionsuspensionadjournmentmoratoriumcontinuance

   verb

   • 1. postpone (a sentence, obligation, etc.): "the execution was only respited a few months"
   • ▪ grant a respite to (someone, especially a person condemned to death): "some poor criminal … from the gibbet or the wheel, respited for a day"

   Word Origin Middle English: from Old French respit, from Latin respectus ‘refuge, consideration’.

   Scrabble Points: 9

   • R

     1

   • E

     1

   • S

     1

   • P

     3

   • I

     1

   • T

     1

   • E

     1

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