surrender

sur|ren|der¹ [səˈrendə US -ər] v

[Date: 1400-1500; : Old French; Origin: surrendre, from sur- ( SURCHARGE) + rendre 'to give back, yield']

1.) [I and T]

to say officially that you want to stop fighting or to stop avoiding the police, government etc because you realize that you cannot win

▪ The terrorists were given ten minutes to surrender.

surrender to sb

▪ Thousands of illegal immigrants in Japan have surrendered to police.

surrender yourself (to sb)

▪ He immediately surrendered himself to the authorities.

2.) [T]

to give your soldiers, land or weapons to an enemy after you have been defeated

▪ They were given two hours to surrender their weapons.

3.) [T]

to give up something or someone because you are forced to

▪ Cath was most reluctant to surrender her independence.

▪ Marchers who had cameras were forced to surrender their film.

4.) surrender to sth

to allow yourself to be controlled or influenced by something

▪ Colette surrendered to temptation and took out a cigarette.

5.) [T] formal

to give something such as a ticket or a ↑passport to an official

surrender sth to sb

▪ Steir voluntarily surrendered his license to the State.

surrender ²

surrender² n [singular, U]

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 sb/sth

▪ 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