life imprisonment

British

noun

(in Britain) an indeterminate sentence always given for murder and as a maximum sentence in several other crimes. There is no remission, although the Home Secretary may order the prisoner's release on licence

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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Former president Chun Doo-hwan, who ruled South Korea in the 1980s as a military dictator, was sentenced to death for leading an insurrection, though this was later reduced to life imprisonment.

From BBC

However, the country has not carried out an execution since 1976 and the death penalty is automatically commuted to life imprisonment.

From Barron's

For his crimes, an American military court sentenced Giesler to life imprisonment, but his sentence was repeatedly trimmed before he was set free in October 1952.

From The Wall Street Journal

Despite a lack of evidence, Dreyfus was convicted of treason, sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Devil's Island penal colony in French Guiana and publicly stripped of his rank.

From Barron's

Five defendants were given life imprisonment, while sentences ranging from three to 20 years were given to nine others.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023