Library / English Dictionary

RESIGN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Accept as inevitable

Example:

He resigned himself to his fate

Synonyms:

reconcile; resign; submit

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "resign" is one way to...):

accept (consider or hold as true)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody PP

Derivation:

resignation (acceptance of despair)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Part with a possession or right

Example:

resign a claim to the throne

Synonyms:

free; give up; release; relinquish; resign

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "resign" is one way to...):

give; hand; pass; pass on; reach; turn over (place into the hands or custody of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "resign"):

derequisition (release from government control)

give; sacrifice (endure the loss of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Leave (a job, post, or position) voluntarily

Example:

The chairman resigned when he was found to have misappropriated funds

Synonyms:

give up; renounce; resign; vacate

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "resign" is one way to...):

leave office; quit; resign; step down (give up or retire from a position)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "resign"):

abdicate; renounce (give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

resignation (the act of giving up (a claim or office or possession etc.))

Sense 4

Meaning:

Give up or retire from a position

Example:

The chairman resigned over the financial scandal

Synonyms:

leave office; quit; resign; step down

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "resign" is one way to...):

depart; leave; pull up stakes (remove oneself from an association with or participation in)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "resign"):

give up; renounce; resign; vacate (leave (a job, post, or position) voluntarily)

retire (go into retirement; stop performing one's work or withdraw from one's position)

top out (give up one's career just as one becomes very successful)

fall (lose office or power)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

resignation (a formal document giving notice of your intention to resign)

resignation (the act of giving up (a claim or office or possession etc.))

Credits

 Context examples: 

He was soon pretty well resigned.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Ah! It is well for the unfortunate to be resigned, but for the guilty there is no peace.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

She resigned herself at first to all the misery of her situation; and happy had it been if she had not lived to overcome those regrets which the remembrance of me occasioned.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

With a resigned air and a somewhat weary smile, Holmes begged the beautiful intruder to take a seat, and to inform us what it was that was troubling her.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have heard, also, that he was slated for the head of the English department, only the affair happened and he resigned and went away.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Every one capable of thinking felt the advantage of the idea, and in a moment (it was all done in rapid moments) Captain Benwick had resigned the poor corpse-like figure entirely to the brother's care, and was off for the town with the utmost rapidity.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

The needful was comprised in Mr. Morland's promise; his honour was pledged to make everything easy; and by what means their income was to be formed, whether landed property were to be resigned, or funded money made over, was a matter in which her disinterested spirit took no concern.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Bring him hither, Chandos, and, certes, if the Lord Loring hath resigned his claim upon this goblet, it is right and proper that this cavalier should carry it to France with him as a sign of the prowess that he has shown this day.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A passenger sprang out of it and advanced swiftly towards him, while the chauffeur, a heavily built, elderly man with a grey moustache, settled down like one who resigns himself to a long vigil.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Lady Bertram seemed quite resigned to waiting.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)