white flag

noun

1

: a flag of plain white used as a flag of truce or as a token of surrender

2

: a token of weakness or yielding

Examples of white flag in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Externally, the move to trade away one of the league’s top scorers is seen as waving the white flag on yet another disappointing season. — Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026

With 50 games to go after the deadline, the Tigers insist that trading one of the best pitchers on the planet plus another key part of their top-notch rotation does not constitute waving the white flag. — Hannah Keyser, CNN Money, 5 Aug. 2026

That’s been apparent for weeks, but the team’s sell-a-thon ahead of the trade deadline served as the symbolic white flag on the year. — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2026

Fully selling would be waving the white flag and setting up way too much work in the winter. — Mitch Bannon, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1578, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for white flag

• bundestag
• saddlebag
• ag
• bag
• brag
• dag
• drag
• gag
• hag
• hagg
• lag
• mag

Kids Definition

white flag

noun

: a flag of plain white used as a flag of truce or as a sign of surrender