sur·ren·der | \ sə-ˈren-dər 
\
\surrendered; surrendering\ sə-ˈren-d(ə-)riŋ \
\Definition of surrender
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a : to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand
surrendered the fort
b : to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another
2a : to give (oneself) up into the power of another especially as a prisoner
b : to give (oneself) over to something (such as an influence)
: to give oneself up into the power of another : yield
surrender
nounDefinition of surrender (Entry 2 of 2)
1a : the action of yielding one's person or giving up the possession of something especially into the power of another
b : the relinquishment by a patentee of rights or claims under a patent
c : the delivery of a principal into lawful custody by bail
— called also surrender by bail
d : the voluntary cancellation of the legal liability of an insurance company by the insured and beneficiary for a consideration
e : the delivery of a fugitive from justice by one government to another
2 : an instance of surrendering
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Synonyms for surrender
Synonyms: Verb
- cede,
- cough up,
- deliver,
- give up,
- hand over,
- lay down,
- relinquish,
- render,
- turn in,
- turn over,
- yield
Synonyms: Noun
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Examples of surrender in a Sentence
Verb
The enemy finally surrendered after three days of fighting.
The gunman surrendered and was taken into custody.
The troops were forced to surrender the fort.
They were required to surrender their passports.
the surrendering of land to the government
He refused to surrender to despair.
He refused to surrender himself to despair. Noun
Their surrender was formalized in a treaty.
They demanded an unconditional surrender.
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Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The judge said on Aug. 21 that Loughlin and Giannulli had 90 days to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving their sentences, which would make their deadline mid-November.
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Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY, "Felicity Huffman ends probation, completing her college admissions scandal sentence," 26 Oct. 2020 Netflix, which is sprinkling some of its 2020 releases into theaters, has built a subscription empire on the belief that people would just as soon stay home and surrender to the algorithm.
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New York Times, "How Much Do You Really Miss Going to the Movies?," 16 Oct. 2020 Rittenhouse’s attorneys said the teen did try to surrender to Kenosha authorities before returning home.
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Stephanie Pagones, Fox News, "Kyle Rittenhouse: Illinois prosecutors defend efforts to extradite accused Kenosha shooter," 16 Oct. 2020 Morgan goes to surrender himself to Emile to spare Isaac and Rachel, but Isaac intervenes and knocks Emile away.
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Nick Romano, EW.com, "Fear the Walking Dead premiere recap: Morgan's dead. Long live Morgan.," 12 Oct. 2020 Perhaps most concerning, the PRO Act would ban right-to-work laws, which have so far been adopted by 28 states and which protect the rights of workers to choose for themselves whether to surrender part of their paychecks to unions.
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Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, "The Capital Letter: Week of September 28," 2 Oct. 2020 Last Monday, a subway rider in Queens was stabbed after refusing to surrender his wallet to another rider who was armed with a screwdriver, CBS 2 New York reported.
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Robert Gearty, Fox News, "NYPD investigates third subway slashing incident in a week," 5 Oct. 2020 In that case, officials say voters should surrender the ballot to election judges at an early voting site or Election Day polling place before voting in person.
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Dan Petrella, chicagotribune.com, "Secure drop boxes, extra sorting machines and a decade of experience: Here’s why Illinois election officials say voting by mail is safe," 2 Oct. 2020 Perhaps most concerning, the PRO Act would ban right-to-work laws, which have so far been adopted by 28 states and which protect the rights of workers to choose for themselves whether to surrender part of their paychecks to unions.
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Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, "The Capital Letter: Week of September 28," 2 Oct. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun For many Taiwanese, the Republic of China was akin to a foreign occupation when the Kuomintang party arrived after Japan’s surrender in World War II.
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Chris Horton, Bloomberg.com, "China’s Insistence That Taiwan Isn’t a Country Starts Backfiring," 11 Oct. 2020 The reaction appears to overshadow her friend’s surrender cobra.
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Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, "Texas coed goes viral, caught on camera reacting to loss to Oklahoma," 10 Oct. 2020 Throughout the conflict, hunger has been weaponized through the use of crippling sieges—most often by the government of President Bashar al-Assad—to force surrender.
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James Hookway, WSJ, "Nobel Peace Prize Is Awarded to the World Food Program," 9 Oct. 2020 World War II's end came 75 years ago Seventy-five years ago on Wednesday, a Japanese delegation formally signed surrender documents aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, officially ending World War II.
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Editors, USA TODAY, "Mississippi state flag, Fort Hood leadership change, Thunder-Rockets: 5 things to know Wednesday," 2 Sep. 2020 Tomorrow marks the 75th anniversary of the formal Japanese surrender ceremony that officially brought World War II to an end.
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Diane Bell Columnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Meet the last survivor of a legendary World War II sub," 31 Aug. 2020 To put it plainly, Raven didn’t know the meaning of the word surrender.
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Tony Baranek, chicagotribune.com, "Baranek: A scrapper. A digger. A champion. Gary Raven followed up driving career with another ‘trying to give somebody a helping hand.’," 5 Oct. 2020 The Battle of Jakku, which happens a year later, marks the final defeat of the core Imperial fleet and the surrender of most of the Imperial remnant.
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Brittany Vincent, CNN Underscored, "Star Wars: Squadrons is a modern take on the X-Wing series," 1 Oct. 2020 Then there was a burst of tremendously good news — the surrender of Germany.
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Deborah Martin, ExpressNews.com, "1918 to 2020: Witte and Army medical museum artifacts from Spanish flu pandemic show much is the same amid coronavirus," 24 Sep. 2020
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'surrender.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for surrender
surrender
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of surrender
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to agree to stop fighting, hiding, resisting, etc., because you know that you will not win or succeed
: to give the control or use of (something) to someone else
: to allow something (such as a habit or desire) to influence or control you
surrender
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of surrender (Entry 2 of 2)
: an agreement to stop fighting, hiding, resisting, etc., because you know that you will not win or succeed : an act of surrendering
: the act of giving the control or use of something to someone else
: the act of allowing yourself to be influenced or controlled by someone or something
See the full definition for surrender in the English Language Learners Dictionary
surrender
verbsur·ren·der | \ sə-ˈren-dər \
\surrendered; surrendering
Kids Definition of surrender
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : to give up after a struggle
The soldiers surrendered. We'll never surrender the fort.
2 : to let go of : relinquish We surrendered our place in line.
surrender
nounKids Definition of surrender (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : the act of giving up after a struggle
2 : the act of giving something over to the possession or control of someone else
surrender
transitive verbsur·ren·der
Legal Definition of surrender
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a : to yield to the control or possession of another
surrender the leased premises surrender collateral to a creditor
b : to give up completely or agree to forgo
c : to cancel (one's insurance policy) voluntarily
2 : to give over to the custody of the law
surrender a defendant
: to give oneself up
surrender
nounLegal Definition of surrender (Entry 2 of 2)
: an act or instance of surrendering
discharge an obligor by surrender of a promissory note especially : the yielding of an estate by a tenant to the landlord so that the leasehold interest is extinguished by mutual agreement
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Time Traveler for surrender
The first known use of surrender was in the 15th century
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