I. sur ‧ ren ‧ der 1 /səˈrendə $ -ər/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: surrendre , from sur- ( ⇨ ↑ surcharge ) + rendre 'to give back, yield' ]
1 . [intransitive] to say officially that you want to stop fighting, because you realize that you cannot win:
Germany surrendered on May 7th, 1945.
The terrorists were given ten minutes to surrender.
2 . [intransitive and transitive] to go to the police or the authorities, and say that you want to stop trying to escape from them
surrender (yourself) to somebody
He immediately surrendered himself to the authorities.
3 . [transitive] to give up something or someone, especially because you are forced to:
They agreed to surrender their weapons.
She was reluctant to surrender her independence.
Marchers who had cameras were forced to surrender their film.
4 . surrender to something to allow yourself to be controlled or influenced by something:
Colette surrendered to temptation and took out a cigarette.
5 . [transitive] formal to give something such as a ticket or a ↑ passport to an official
surrender something to somebody
Steir voluntarily surrendered his license to the State.
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THESAURUS
▪ surrender to say officially that you want to stop fighting, especially in a war, because you realize that you cannot win – used about people and countries:
Two days later, the rebels surrendered.
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Japan surrendered in August 1945.
▪ give in to accept that you cannot win a game, argument, fight etc and stop trying to win it:
The players refused to give in and eventually won the game 4-3 in extra time.
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The negotiations went on for days and neither side was prepared to give in.
▪ admit/accept defeat to accept that you have not won something:
In July 1905, Russia admitted defeat in its war with Japan.
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She wanted to run for the Presidency and refused to accept defeat.
▪ concede formal to say that you are not going to win a game, argument, election etc, so that it officially ends:
He was forced to concede the match.
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Davis conceded defeat in the election.
II. surrender 2 BrE AmE noun [singular, uncountable]
1 . when you say officially that you want to stop fighting because you realize that you cannot win:
the humiliation of unconditional surrender (=accepting total defeat)
surrender to somebody/something
the Nazis’ surrender to the Allied forces
2 . when you give away something or someone, usually because you are forced to
surrender of
a surrender of power
the surrender of all illegal weapons
3 . when you allow yourself to be controlled or influenced by something:
total surrender to drug addiction