reprieve
n.n. a short delay in a punishment or a bad situation. It is like a temporary break from something unpleasant.
n. a temporary delay or suspension of a punishment or an unpleasant situation. Often used in legal contexts to describe a stay of execution or in general contexts to describe a brief period of relief.
The prisoner received a reprieve from his sentence.
After months of heavy rain, the farmers finally received a reprieve as the sun began to shine.
The Supreme Court granted a temporary reprieve to the defendant, allowing his legal team to prepare a more comprehensive appeal before the next hearing.
First use appears c. 1513 in the writings of Robert Fabyan. In the sense of “to take back to prison”, from Middle English repryen (“to remand, detain”) (1494), possibly from Middle French repris, in the form of reprendre (“take back”); a cognate to reprise. The sense has become generalized, but does retain connotations of punishment and execution. The noun's first use appears c. 1592.