death row

American  

noun

• death rows
  plural

1. a row of prison cells for prisoners awaiting execution.

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death row British  

noun

1. the part of a prison where those sentenced to death are confined

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• death rows
  plural

Etymology

Origin of death row

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

death row

California’s district judges were overrun with emergency petitions for writs of habeas corpus, a legal maneuver rarely used outside death row appeals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

There was desperation in the voice of the young Ethiopian man when he managed to get through to the BBC from a phone in his prison cell on death row in Saudi Arabia.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

The long, arduous path to freedom for a man on death row is dramatized in “The Fear of 13,” a modestly affecting but plodding documentary-based play first seen at London’s prestigious Donmar Warehouse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

In 1995, Penn was lured back to the screen by friend Tim Robbins, earning his first Oscar nomination for the death row tale "Dead Man Walking."

From Barron's ● Mar. 16, 2026

In 2003, Texas put to death twenty-four inmates—or just 5 per cent of the nearly 500 inmates on its death row during that time.

From "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything" by Steven D. Levitt