Definition of "pardoner" [par•don•er]

• One that pardons: a pardoner of the sins of others. (noun)
• A medieval ecclesiastic authorized to raise money for religious works by granting papal indulgences to contributors. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "This meager use of the pardon power isn't only a shirking of an important presidential duty, as former Maryland governor and prolific pardoner Robert Ehrlich argued in a recent Baltimore Sun editorial; it also makes no sense."
• "Leaving Nora to rest in bed, Albright and Leonard found the local pardoner, and bought a tooth of Saint George for a discount price before returning to the manor."
• "The whole -- McChrystal says you have to have a credible pardoner."