death warrant

an official order authorizing the execution of the sentence of death.

anything that ends hope, expectation, etc.

Origin of death warrant

First recorded in 1685–95

Can I sign his death-warrant who has tolerated me about his grounds so long?

My Garden Acquaintance |James Russell Lowell
Ten minutes after he had entered the official room, Ivan left it again, bearing with him the death-warrant of his military career.

The Genius |Margaret Horton Potter
Yet my brain burns with the thought of Mary's death-warrant unsigned.

No Great Magic |Fritz Reuter Leiber
She went out of the pretty drawing-room where she had heard what seemed to her her death-warrant.

A Mad Love |Bertha M. Clay

More cruel than the bloodiest pirate was the fate that forced him thus to bear the death-warrant of his own young life.

Kate Bonnet |Frank R. Stockton

death warrant

the official authorization for carrying out a sentence of death

sign one's death warrant or sign one's own death warrant to cause one's own destruction