1
as in surrendering
to give (something) over to the control or possession of another usually under duress
the boy reluctantly relinquished the illegal fireworks to the police officer
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in abdicating
to give up (as a position of authority) formally
the retiring CEO relinquished his position to the company's vice president with very mixed feelings
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of relinquishing
The cost of obtaining them will very quickly amount to billions of dollars, which could force Musk to pay by relinquishing shares.
—
Bloomberg, Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2025
His mother would soon pass, and Agee hadn’t had the opportunity to find a new place to live after relinquishing his apartment pre-Suicide Squad.
—Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 22 Aug. 2025
While a strong federal government may be central to the Democratic Party's identity, maintaining that objective likely requires relinquishing control from the capital and encouraging state politicos to explore new ways to achieve success.
—Alex J. Rouhandeh, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Aug. 2025
Genest said by relinquishing control over this aspect of working conditions, the state is granting unions more authority over the issue and, Genest said, weakening management of state government.
—William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 19 Aug. 2025
This ain’t my first time relinquishing the title.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
Many also have an intense fear of relinquishing their perfectionism, which feels like the only thing that is holding them together.
—Leslie Jamison, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
For the Thunder to turn a defensive liability into one of the best defenders in all of basketball, without relinquishing a single draft pick, has to go down as one of the biggest steals of the 2024-2025 NBA season.
—Morten Stig Jensen, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
Later that spring, Chuter departed her post as chief executive officer of Uoma, also relinquishing her board seat.
—Noor Lobad, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Bloomberg, Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2025
His mother would soon pass, and Agee hadn’t had the opportunity to find a new place to live after relinquishing his apartment pre-Suicide Squad.
—Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 22 Aug. 2025
While a strong federal government may be central to the Democratic Party's identity, maintaining that objective likely requires relinquishing control from the capital and encouraging state politicos to explore new ways to achieve success.
—Alex J. Rouhandeh, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Aug. 2025
Genest said by relinquishing control over this aspect of working conditions, the state is granting unions more authority over the issue and, Genest said, weakening management of state government.
—William Melhado, Sacbee.com, 19 Aug. 2025
This ain’t my first time relinquishing the title.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2025
Many also have an intense fear of relinquishing their perfectionism, which feels like the only thing that is holding them together.
—Leslie Jamison, New Yorker, 4 Aug. 2025
For the Thunder to turn a defensive liability into one of the best defenders in all of basketball, without relinquishing a single draft pick, has to go down as one of the biggest steals of the 2024-2025 NBA season.
—Morten Stig Jensen, Forbes, 22 Dec. 2024
Later that spring, Chuter departed her post as chief executive officer of Uoma, also relinquishing her board seat.
—Noor Lobad, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for relinquishing
Verb
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Clay Holmes followed that up Wednesday by lasting four innings (plus two batters) and surrendering four runs.—
Will Sammon,
New York Times,
11 Sep. 2025
-
Mazur exited after surrendering back-to-back singles with one out.—
Steve Gorten,
Miami Herald,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
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This isn't about abdicating responsibility.—
Julian Hayes II,
Forbes.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
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This is less computationally intensive than actually rendering all three of those frames; it can be combined with MetalFX's existing temporal upscaling, boosting performance even further.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
15 Sep. 2025
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But the speed came from all three levels of Green Bay’s defense, rendering Washington’s offense almost inoperative.—
Nicki Jhabvala,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The independent journalist Ken Klippenstein, who has broken stories on national security on his eponymous Substack, has seemingly bullied older congressional staffers into doing more media appearances (or resigning from their jobs outright).—
Max Tani,
semafor.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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But he was impeached in 1992 for corruption, resigning before the Brazilian Senate could, in effect, remove him.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Georgia has emerged as one of the nation’s most pivotal battlegrounds, flipping to President Joe Biden in 2020 and back to Trump in 2024, and delivering Democrats two Senate seats, even as Republicans have held the governor’s mansion for over two decades.—
Samantha-Jo Roth,
The Washington Examiner,
16 Sep. 2025
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The Roku 55-inch Pro Series TV keeps things simple while still delivering a cinematic punch and $300 discount.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Even worse, Park and his conservative successors had been bolstered by the very imperial forces from which the South Koreans had hoped to escape, in exchange for renouncing their right to forgive and to hold Japan accountable.—
Eun A Jo,
Foreign Affairs,
23 Nov. 2022
Verb
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Firms that fail to shine light on their dark data risk ceding the high ground in insights and inviting risk exposures lurking in unindexed archives.—
Daniel Fallmann,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
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The document also prohibits any leader from ceding Ukrainian land, Farkas said during a recent interview with the Tribune.—
Angie Leventis Lourgos,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Relinquishing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/relinquishing. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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