warrant

noun

war·rant | \ ˈwȯr-ənt

, ˈwär-\

Definition of warrant

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a(1) : sanction, authorization also : evidence for or token of authorization

(2) : guarantee, security

b(1) : ground, justification

(2) : confirmation, proof

2a : a commission or document giving authority to do something especially : a writing that authorizes a person to pay or deliver to another and the other to receive money or other consideration

b : a precept or writ issued by a competent magistrate authorizing an officer to make an arrest, a seizure, or a search or to do other acts incident to the administration of justice

c : an official certificate of appointment issued to an officer of lower rank than a commissioned officer

d(1) : a short-term obligation of a governmental body (such as a municipality) issued in anticipation of revenue

(2) : an instrument issued by a corporation giving to the holder the right to purchase the stock of the corporation at a stated price either prior to a stipulated date or at any future time

warrant

verb

warranted; warranting; warrants

Definition of warrant (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : to declare or maintain with certainty : be sure that I'll warrant he'll be here by noon

b : to assure (a person) of the truth of what is said

2a : to guarantee to a person good title to and undisturbed possession of (something, such as an estate)

b : to provide a guarantee of the security of (something, such as title to property sold) usually by an express covenant in the deed of conveyance

c : to guarantee to be as represented

d : to guarantee (something, such as goods sold) especially in respect of the quality or quantity specified

3 : to guarantee security or immunity to : secure I'll warrant him from drowning— William Shakespeare

4 : to give warrant or sanction to : authorize the law warrants this procedure

5a : to give proof of the authenticity or truth of

b : to give assurance of the nature of or for the undertaking of : guarantee

6 : to serve as or give adequate ground or reason for promising enough to warrant further consideration

Other Words from warrant Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about warrant

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Examples of warrant in a Sentence

Noun

The police had a warrant for his arrest. There was no warrant for such behavior.

Verb

The writing was poor, but it hardly warrants that kind of insulting criticism. The punishment he received was not warranted.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The warrant will be completed at a later date and time. — Houston Chronicle, "Bellaire Police Department weekly report," 15 July 2019 Don’t Open the Door Like police, ICE can’t enter your home without a warrant signed by a judge, as experts recently told The Patriot-News. — Lucy Diavolo, Teen Vogue, "ICE Raids: What Are Your Rights?," 12 July 2019 Carpenter v United States held that obtaining a suspect’s mobile-phone metadata without a warrant also violated his privacy rights. — The Economist, "America mulls regulating facial recognition," 11 July 2019 Assistant District Attorney Kyle Johnson approved the affidavit and Court Commissioner J.C. Moore signed off on the no-knock warrant. — Bruce Vielmetti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Path to Milwaukee Police Officer Matthew Rittner's death started with a 'shots fired' call six weeks earlier," 11 July 2019 In February 2018, King County passed a law prohibiting the sharing of personal information with immigration officials without a judicial warrant. — Nina Shapiro, The Seattle Times, "Auditor: King County allowed ICE to access jail inmates’ personal information more than 1,000 times," 10 July 2019 The others in the case turned the tables and sued the government over the legality of the general warrant and also won. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "‘Seditious’ Pressed Glass Jewel Found in 18th-Century North Carolina Tavern," 10 July 2019 The warrants against Taylor were obtained Monday and he was booked into the Lee County Detention Center on $50,000 and later released on bond. — Carol Robinson | Crobinson@al.com, al.com, "Rod Bramblett wreck warrant: Teen was driving 30 mph over speed limit," 2 July 2019 Justice Kavanaugh at times showed a law-and-order streak, including in a case that saw him in a majority that sided with a Wisconsin police officer who took a blood sample from a drunken driver without a warrant. — Jess Bravin, WSJ, "Trump’s Supreme Court Picks, While Aligned, Haven’t Moved in Lockstep," 28 June 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Benji won’t ever warrant any external rewards, will never succeed according to George’s scale. — Willing Davidson, The New Yorker, "Emma Cline on the Movie Business," 24 June 2019 Buzz60 An asteroid roughly the width of a football field will pass close enough to Earth this year to warrant the attention of the European Space Agency (ESA), though the space rock's actual threat to the planet is minimal. — Jordan Culver, USA TODAY, "Asteroid nearly the width of a football field has small chance of hitting Earth this year," 7 June 2019 But there is no indication that the two leaders discussed cybersecurity, worrying experts who warn that North Korea’s cyberwarfare capabilities pose an immediate threat to U.S. interests that warrants high-level attention. — Washington Post, "Summit does not deal with North Korea’s hacking," 17 June 2018 Yet outside of New York City, teenagers held in jail often don’t warrant special treatment. — Taylor Elizabeth Eldridge, The Root, "Rikers Doesn’t Put Teens in Solitary; Other New York Jails Do," 28 Mar. 2018 Yes, more support almost always helps, but nothing can hop over grief and fear, not when it is warranted. — Meghan Leahy, Washington Post, "How to cope when your chaotic parenting life gets even more squeezed," 17 June 2019 Having watched a fair share of pilots in recent years for Ars, what Tremors offered at ATX TV Festival this weekend would have definitely warranted a few more episodes of my time at worst. — Nathan Mattise, Ars Technica, "Kevin Bacon shares the Tremors TV pilot—Val is washed, Graboids are hungry," 9 June 2019 Senior leaders need to make collecting frontline feedback a priority and then act on the information, when warranted. — Gwen Moran, Fortune, "Better Communication Tools Can Radically Improve Workplaces—If Managers Can Convince Workers to Speak Up," 8 June 2019 On one side, those who believe Loughlin's white-collar crime doesn't warrant four decades in prison, compared to perpetrators of violence. — Michelle Ruiz, Vogue, "Will Lori Loughlin Really Get 40 Years in Prison?," 30 May 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'warrant.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for warrant

Noun

Middle English waraunt protector, warrant, from Anglo-French warant, garant, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German werēnto guarantor, werēn to warrant; akin to Old High German wāra trust, care — more at very entry 2

Verb

Middle English, waranten to act as protector, guarantee, from Anglo-French warentir, garantir, from warant

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Dictionary Entries near warrant

Statistics for warrant

Last Updated

19 Jul 2019

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for warrant

The first known use of warrant was in the 14th century

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More Definitions for warrant

warrant

noun

Financial Definition of warrant

What It Is

Warrants are securities that give the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy a certain number of securities (usually the issuer's common stock) at a certain price before a certain time. Warrants are not the same as call options or stock purchase rights.

How It Works

Occasionally, companies offer warrants for direct sale or give them to employees as incentive, but the vast majority of warrants are "attached" to newly issued bonds or preferred stock.

For example, if Company XYZ issues bonds with warrants attached, each bondholder might get a $1,000 face-value bond and the right to purchase 100 shares of Company XYZ stock at $20 per share over the next five years. Warrants usually permit the holder to purchase common stock of the issuer, but sometimes they allow the purchaser to buy the stock or bonds of another entity (such as a subsidiary or even a third party).

The price at which a warrant holder can purchase the underlying securities is called the exercise price or strike price. The exercise price is usually higher than the market price of the stock at the time of the warrant's issuance. In our example, the exercise price is $20, which is 15% higher than what Company XYZ stock was trading at when the bonds were issued. The warrant's exercise price often rises according to a schedule as the bond matures. This schedule is set forth in the bond indenture.

One important characteristic of warrants is that they are often detachable. That is, if an investor holds a bond with attached warrants, he or she can sell the warrants and keep the bond. Warrants are traded on the major exchanges. In some cases, where warrants have been issued with preferred stock, stockholders may not receive a dividend as long as they hold the warrant as well. Thus, it is sometimes advantageous to detach and sell a warrant as soon as possible so the investor can earn dividends.

If the price of the stock is above the exercise price of the warrant, the warrant must have what is known as a minimum value. For example, consider the warrants to purchase 100 shares of Company XYZ for $20 per share anytime in the next five years. If Company XYZ shares rose to $40 during that time, the warrant holder could purchase the shares for $20 each, and immediately sell them for $40 on the open market, pocketing a profit of ($40 - $20) x 100 shares = $2,000. Thus, the minimum value of each warrant is $20.

It is important to note, however, that if the warrants still had a long time before they expired, investors might speculate that the price of Company XYZ stock could go even higher than $100 per share. This speculation, accompanied by the extra time for the stock to rise further, is why a warrant with a minimum value of $20 could easily trade above $20. But as the warrant gets closer to expiring (and the chances of the stock price rising in time to further increase profits get smaller), that premium would shrink until it equaled the minimum value of the warrant (which could be $0 if the stock price falls to below $20).

Why It Matters

Warrants are not the same as call options. Call options are not detachable and they often have a shorter shelf life than warrants do (usually less than a year, versus five or more for warrants). They are also not the same as convertible securities, where the holder uses the principal of one security to purchase another security (usually a bond issuer's stock). For example, if the Company XYZ bond were a convertible bond, the holder could trade the bond's $1,000 par value for a number of Company XYZ shares. But if the Company XYZ bond has a warrant attached, the investor must come up with additional money to purchase the shares at the exercise price (in this case 100 shares x $20 per share, or $2,000).

Warrants are also not the same as stock purchase rights. The exercise price of a stock purchase right is usually below the underlying security's market price at the time of issuance, whereas warrant exercise prices are typically 15% above market price at the time of issuance. Also, companies often issue stock purchase rights only to existing shareholders, and they also have very short lives--generally two to four weeks.

Securities with attached warrants allow their holder to participate in the price appreciation of the underlying security (Company XYZ common stock, in our example). This is because the higher the minimum value of the attached warrant, the higher the value of the bond or preferred shares. For example, the price of a Company XYZ bond with a warrant attached tends to rise as the price of Company XYZ common stock approaches the exercise price (similar to a call option).

This opportunity to participate in the upside of another security (albeit usually with the same company) gives investors a little diversification and thus is a way to mitigate risk. As a result, companies often issue bonds and preferred stock with warrants attached as a way to enhance the demand and marketability of the offering. This in turn lowers the cost of raising capital for the issuer.

Source: Investing Answers

warrant

noun

English Language Learners Definition of warrant

(Entry 1 of 2)

law : a document issued by a court that gives the police the power to do something

formal : a reason for thinking, deciding, or doing something

warrant

verb

English Language Learners Definition of warrant (Entry 2 of 2)

: to require or deserve (something)

: to make a legal promise that a statement is true

: to give a guarantee or warranty for (a product)

See the full definition for warrant in the English Language Learners Dictionary

warrant

noun

war·rant | \ ˈwȯr-ənt

Kids Definition of warrant

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a reason or cause for an opinion or action There is no warrant for such behavior.

2 : a document giving legal power “Hold that man,” … “I have a warrant for his arrest.”— Richard and Florence Atwater, Mr. Popper's Penguins

warrant

verb

warranted; warranting

Kids Definition of warrant (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : to be sure of or that I'll warrant they know the answer.

2 : guarantee entry 2 sense 1 The toaster is warranted for 90 days.

3 : to call for : justify The report warrants careful study.

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warrant

noun

war·rant | \ ˈwȯr-ənt, ˈwär-

Legal Definition of warrant

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : warranty sense 2 an implied warrant of fitness

2 : a commission or document giving authority to do something: as

a : an order from one person (as an official) to another to pay public funds to a designated person

b : a writ issued especially by a judicial official (as a magistrate) authorizing an officer (as a sheriff) to perform a specified act required for the administration of justice a warrant of arrest by warrant of commitment

— administrative warrant

: a warrant (as for an administrative search) issued by a judge upon application of an administrative agency

— anticipatory search warrant

: a search warrant that is issued on the basis of an affidavit showing probable cause that there will be certain evidence at a specific location at a future time

— called also anticipatory warrant

— arrest warrant

: a warrant issued to a law enforcement officer ordering the officer to arrest and bring the person named in the warrant before the court or a magistrate

Note: A criminal arrest warrant must be issued based upon probable cause. Not all arrests require an arrest warrant.

— bench warrant

: a warrant issued by a judge for the arrest of a person who is in contempt of court or indicted

— death warrant

: a warrant issued to a warden or other prison official to carry out a sentence of death

— dispossessory warrant \ ˌdis-pə-ˈze-sə-rē- \

: a warrant issued to evict someone (as a lessee) from real property —used especially in Georgia

— distress warrant

: a warrant ordering the distress of property and specifying which items of property are to be distrained

— extradition warrant

: a warrant for the extradition of a fugitive specifically : rendition warrant in this entry

— fugitive warrant

: an arrest warrant issued in one jurisdiction for someone who is a fugitive from another jurisdiction

— called also fugitive from justice warrant

— general warrant

: a warrant that is unconstitutional because it fails to state with sufficient particularity the place or person to be searched or things to be seized

— material witness warrant

: a warrant issued for the arrest of a material witness to prevent the witness from fleeing without giving testimony

— no-knock search warrant

: a search warrant allowing law enforcement officers to enter premises without prior announcement in order to prevent destruction of evidence (as illegal drugs) or harm to the officers — compare exigent circumstances

— rendition warrant

: a warrant issued by an official (as a governor) in one jurisdiction (as a state) for the extradition of a fugitive in that jurisdiction to another that is requesting the extradition

— search warrant

: a warrant authorizing law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a place (as a house or vehicle) or person and usually also to seize evidence

— called also search and seizure warrant

Note: The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that a search warrant for a criminal investigation be issued only upon a showing of probable cause, as established usually by a sworn affidavit. The search warrant has to specify the premises and persons to be searched as well as what is being searched for. Not all searches require a search warrant. Warrantless searches are permitted when they are of a kind that the courts have found to be reasonable (as by being limited) or when they are prompted by a level of suspicion or belief (as reasonable suspicion or probable cause) that is consistent with the level of intrusion of the search. Some searches have been found to be so intrusive that a court hearing is required before the search is permitted.

3a : a short-term obligation of a governmental body (as a municipality) issued in anticipation of revenue

b : an instrument issued by a corporation giving to the holder the right to purchase the capital stock of the corporation at a stated price either prior to a stipulated date or at any future time stock warrant — compare subscription

warrant

transitive verb

Legal Definition of warrant (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : to guarantee especially by giving assurances that make one liable or responsible: as

a : to give a warranty (as of title) to

b : to protect or assure by warranty the warranted goods an assignor is not liable for defaults of the obligor and does not warrant his solvency — Restatement (Second) of Contracts

c : to state as a warranty : guarantee to be as represented the seller warrants that the car is without defects expressly warranted “prior endorsements guaranteed”— J. J. White and R. S. Summers

2a : to authorize by a warrant a warranted search

b : to serve as or give adequate reason or authorization for warranted the awarding of attorney's fees was not warranted by the facts

3 : to give proof of the authenticity or truth of a formally warranted statement

History and Etymology for warrant

Noun

Anglo-French warant garant protector, guarantor, authority, authorization, of Germanic origin

Transitive verb

Anglo-French warentir garantir, from garant protector, guarantor

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