admit
Americanverb (used with object)
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to allow to enter; grant or afford entrance to.
to admit a student to college.
- Synonyms:
- receive
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to give right or means of entrance to.
This ticket admits two people.
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to register (a person) as an inpatient at a hospital.
After seeing the test results, the emergency room doctor admitted her and put her on intravenous fluids.
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to permit to exercise a certain function or privilege.
admitted to the bar.
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to permit; allow.
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to allow or concede as valid.
to admit the force of an argument.
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to acknowledge; confess.
He admitted his guilt.
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to grant in argument; concede.
The fact is admitted.
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to have capacity for.
This passage admits two abreast.
verb (used without object)
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to permit entrance; give access.
This door admits to the garden.
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to permit the possibility of something; allow (usually followed byof ).
The contract admits of no other interpretation.
verb
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(may take a clause as object) to confess or acknowledge (a crime, mistake, etc)
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(may take a clause as object) to concede (the truth or validity of something)
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to allow to enter; let in
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(foll by to) to allow participation (in) or the right to be part (of)
to admit to the profession
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to allow (of); leave room (for)
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(intr) to give access
the door admits onto the lawn
Related Words
See acknowledge.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of admit
First recorded in 1375–1425; from Latin admittere, from ad- ad- + mittere “to send, let go”; replacing late Middle English amitte, with a- a- 5 instead of ad-, from Middle French amettre, from Latin, as above
Explanation
When you admit something, you confess that it happened. It wasn't easy to admit that you'd broken the vase, but how else could you explain that your hand was glued to it? Besides meaning "confess," admit can also mean "let in," like a theater ticket that says "ADMIT ONE." If you admit that you have a bag of popcorn hidden in your backpack, you might not be admitted to the movie. A doorway admits you into a room, and if a room can hold up to 50 people, that room admits 50. You can even use admit for metaphorical entrances, like the way your wild style admits you into high fashion circles.
Vocabulary lists containing admit
Send a Message: Mit and Miss
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Because of Winn-Dixie
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Beowulf: A New Telling
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The US judge overseeing Luigi Mangione's New York state trial for the murder of a healthcare executive decided Monday to admit crucial items of evidence including a gun and a notebook.
From Barron's • May 18, 2026
Prosecutors will be able to admit evidence from later questioning, when Mangione was in custody, Carro ruled.
From BBC • May 18, 2026
“We are reluctant to admit that the Ukrainians are now probably the world leaders on both drone offense and defense,” said Eliot Cohen, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 13, 2026
We believe that technologists should design systems that admit uncertainty and need to educate users about how to interpret AI outputs responsibly.
From Salon • May 12, 2026
“I still believe it’s what you do next that matters. But you’ve yet to admit how much you could harm your family. If you did, you would do what needs to be done.”
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
