approval

American  

[uh-proo-vuhl] / əˈpru vəl /

noun

• approvals
  plural

1. the act of approving; approbation.

2. formal permission or sanction.

3. Philately. one of a group of selected stamps sent by a dealer to a prospective customer for examination and either purchase or return.

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idioms

1. on approval, without obligation to buy unless satisfactory to the customer upon trial or examination and, otherwise, returnable.

   We ship merchandise on approval.

approval British  

/ əˈpruːvəl /

noun

1. the act of approving

2. formal agreement; sanction

3. a favourable opinion; commendation

4. (of articles for sale) for examination with an option to buy or return

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approval More Idioms  

1. see on approval; seal of approval.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonapproval
  noun
• preapproval
  noun
• reapproval
  noun
• self-approval
  noun
• proapproval
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• approvals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of approval

First recorded in 1680–90; approve + -al ²

Explanation

Approval is a formal agreement. It's probably not a good idea to mail the invitations for your beach party until you've gotten official approval for the enormous bonfire you're planning to light. Building designs, budgets, grant applications — these all require official approval before they can be put into effect. You can also use the word approval to talk about less formal permission, like a teacher's approval of your plan to buy pizza for the whole class. Approval also means the belief that something is good, like your approval of your neighbor's purple house. Until 1800, it was much more common for people to use the word approvance to mean the same thing.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

approval approvals

Prospective builders will have to agree to several requirements to win state approval, the Democrat said, including an energy plan that won’t shift costs to Pennsylvania households and securing local buy-in.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Real Madrid looked best placed to sign Rodri as he entered the final 12 months of his City contract, but sources told BBC Sport Barcelona had Rodri's approval to open negotiations with City.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Viva is the largest affordable housing project created under Bass’ Executive Directive 1, a 2022 order to speed up the city approval process for 100% affordable developments intended to reduce homelessness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

The senior-focused insurance products may include — pending regulatory review and approval — pharmacy benefits, Medflex over-the-counter benefits, vision, audiology and more, the companies said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

She nods and dumps them both, then looks back to Ray for approval.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko

Before its services can run, Virgin still needs to procure a rolling stock of trains for the route, gain access to other rail networks and obtain safety approvals from British and European Union authorities.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

To accelerate California approvals, Paramount requested a November trial date for Bonta’s suit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Reports have said that the board members have disagreed over issues such as board nominations, funding approvals and the public listing of Tata Sons.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

The transaction was unanimously approved by both companies’ boards and is expected to be completed early next year, pending approvals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

The government’s engine of bureaucracy accelerated slowly, however, and although the Justice Department decided to make its move against him, it took time and approvals to decide when and where an arrest could be made.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Related Words

• blessing
• confirmation
• consent
• endorsement
• go ahead
• green light
• license
• mandate
• permission
• ratification
• recommendation
• sanction
• support