faint hope clause
n.— «Olson owned up to his culpability in 1982 when B.C. authorities agreed to give Olson’s wife $10,000 for each child he killed in exchange for telling them where their bodies and personal effects were. In 1997, Olson applied for early release under what is known as Canada’s faint hope clause. At the hearing, Olson displayed a pornographic picture of a child and grinned at the families of the victims. As a result of that hearing, the faint hope clause was amended making those who commit multiple homicide ineligible for applying for early release.» —“Reconsidering the Death Penalty” by Aaron Goldstein American Daily (Phoeniz, Arizona) Oct. 22, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
The older sense of disappoint was briskly literal: in the 15th century, to disappoint someone could mean to remove them from an appointed office. A ruler could be disappointed, meaning stripped of rule, before the verb developed its familiar sense...
What’s the best way for someone busy to learn lots of new words quickly for a test like the GRE? Looking up their origins can help. Or, record yourself reading the words and definitions and play them back while you’re doing other chores...