I. səˈrendə(r) verb
( surrendered ; surrendered ; surrendering -d(ə)riŋ ; surrenders )
Etymology: Middle English surrenderen, from Middle French surrendre, from sur- + rendre to deliver, yield — more at render
transitive verb
1. : to make a surrender in law of: as
a. : to give up (an estate) to the holder in remainder or reversion
b. : to relinquish (as rights or claims under a patent) to the grantor
c. : to deliver (the principal) into lawful custody
2.
a. : to yield to the power, control, authority, or possession of another : give or deliver up possession of upon compulsion or demand : cease trying to retain or control and agree to yield
surrendered the fort
forced to surrender the ship
the continental firm surrenders the dollars to its own bank at the official exchange rate — R.F.Mikesell
b. : to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another : abandon, resign, or relinquish possession of usually for the sake of another : assent to loss of possession or exercise of or power or control over
surrendered his chair to the lady
benefits bestowed by science which we are not anxious to surrender — J.W.Krutch
3.
a. : to give (oneself) up into the power of another especially as a prisoner
b. : to give (oneself) over to something (as an influence or course of action) : abandon or devote (as oneself) entirely to something without restraint, reservation, or further resistance
the individual … has surrendered himself to destructive ideologies — F.E.Hill
surrendered his mind to more frivolous pursuits — George Meredith
intransitive verb
: to give oneself up into the power of another : yield
ordered the troops to surrender
the enemy must soon surrender
Synonyms: see relinquish
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Middle French surrendre to deliver, yield (taken as a noun)
1.
a. : the action of yielding one's person or giving up the possession of something into the power of another : abandonment , resignation
complete surrender of initiative to the adversary — S.L.A.Marshall
the heroine's … surrender to drugs, nymphomania, or catatonic dementia — Malcolm Cowley
b. : the action of yielding a particular estate to the person who has an immediate estate in remainder or reversion, merging the surrendered estate in the greater one
the surrender of a lease to the landlord before its expiration
the surrender of a legal tenancy in a copyhold estate to the lord of the manor
— compare release , renunciation
c. : the relinquishment by a patentee of his rights or claims under a patent
d. or surrender by bail : the delivery of a principal into lawful custody by his bail
e. : the assignment of his assets to his creditors by a usually bankrupt debtor
f. : the voluntary cancellation of the legal liability of an insurance company by the insured and beneficiary for a consideration — see surrender value
g. : the delivering up of a fugitive from justice by one government (as of a foreign country) to another — compare extradition 1
2. : an instance of surrendering