Library / English Dictionary

SURRENDER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of surrendering (usually under agreed conditions)

Example:

they were protected until the capitulation of the fort

Synonyms:

capitulation; fall; surrender

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("surrender" is a kind of...):

loss (the act of losing someone or something)

Derivation:

surrender (give up or agree to forgo to the power or possession of another)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The delivery of a principal into lawful custody

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("surrender" is a kind of...):

delivery; legal transfer; livery (the voluntary transfer of something (title or possession) from one party to another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "surrender"):

extradition (the surrender of an accused or convicted person by one state or country to another (usually under the provisions of a statute or treaty))

rendition (handing over prisoners to the country in which a crime was committed)

Derivation:

surrender (relinquish possession or control over)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A verbal act of admitting defeat

Synonyms:

giving up; surrender; yielding

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("surrender" is a kind of...):

relinquishing; relinquishment (a verbal act of renouncing a claim or right or position etc.)

Derivation:

surrender (give up or agree to forgo to the power or possession of another)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Acceptance of despair

Synonyms:

resignation; surrender

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("surrender" is a kind of...):

despair (the feeling that everything is wrong and nothing will turn out well)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "surrender"):

defeatism (acceptance of the inevitability of defeat)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give up or agree to forgo to the power or possession of another

Example:

The last Taleban fighters finally surrendered

Synonyms:

give up; surrender

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

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

yield (cease opposition; stop fighting)

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

abnegate (surrender (power or a position))

concede (acknowledge defeat)

capitulate (surrender under agreed conditions)

Sentence frames:

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

Antonym:

resist (stand up or offer resistance to somebody or something)

Derivation:

surrender (the act of surrendering (usually under agreed conditions))

surrender (a verbal act of admitting defeat)

surrenderer (a person who yields or surrenders)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Relinquish possession or control over

Example:

The squatters had to surrender the building after the police moved in

Synonyms:

cede; deliver; give up; surrender

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

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

gift; give; present (give as a present; make a gift of)

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

yield up (surrender, as a result of pressure or force)

sell (give up for a price or reward)

sign away; sign over (formally assign ownership of)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

surrender (the delivery of a principal into lawful custody)

surrenderer (a person who yields or surrenders)

Credits

 Context examples: 

At first, so great was his disgust with the magazines and all bourgeois society, Martin fought against publicity; but in the end, because it was easier than not to, he surrendered.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It was an expression of perfect confidence, of absolute self-surrender, as though he said: "I put myself into thy hands. Work thou thy will with me."

(White Fang, by Jack London)

It appears they were at their wits' end what to do, the stores being so low that we must have been starved into surrender long before help came.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

She was mortally afraid of being laughed at for surrendering, after her many and vehement declarations of independence.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The less worthy females were to come in the evening, with Miss Bates, Miss Fairfax, and Miss Smith; but already, at dinner, they were too numerous for any subject of conversation to be general; and, while politics and Mr. Elton were talked over, Emma could fairly surrender all her attention to the pleasantness of her neighbour.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Then he surrendered, and, scarcely conscious of what he did, got off his clothes and into bed.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Not for nothing had he surrendered himself body and soul to Grey Beaver.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

"We got to work to-night," he said the next moment, reversing his judgment and surrendering to fate.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

At last he lay at the master's feet, into whose possession he now surrendered himself, voluntarily, body and soul.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Cheese-Face, sobered and a bit frightened, surrendered the foul weapon.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)