relinquish
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to give up (a task, struggle, etc); abandon
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to surrender or renounce (a claim, right, etc)
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to release; let go
Synonym Usage
See abandon.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nonrelinquishmentnoun
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relinquishernoun
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relinquishmentnoun
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unrelinquishedadjective
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unrelinquishingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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relinquishsimple
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relinquishessimple
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have relinquishedperfect
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has relinquishedperfect
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am relinquishingprogressive
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are relinquishingprogressive
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is relinquishingprogressive
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have been relinquishingperfect progressive
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has been relinquishingperfect progressive
Past
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relinquishedsimple
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had relinquishedperfect
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was relinquishingprogressive
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were relinquishingprogressive
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had been relinquishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of relinquish
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English relinquissen, relinquisshen, from Middle French relinquiss-, long stem of relinquir ≪ Latin relinquere “to leave behind,” equivalent to re- re- + linquere “to leave” (akin to lend )
Explanation
If you relinquish something, you let it go. You relinquish control of the army when you resign as general. You relinquish your plan to sneak into town when your parents find out what's going on. Relinquish is also commonly used to mean physically letting go of something: The monkey wouldn't relinquish its grasp on the banana. Relinquish descends from Latin relinquere, from the prefix re-, "again" plus linquere, "to leave."
Vocabulary lists containing relinquish
The Declaration of Independence
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The Giver
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Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 4
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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.
See Examples For:
Donahue "will relinquish command on July 2, 2026," Army spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said in a statement that did not provide a reason for the general's departure after an unusually short 18-month stint in the job.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
Unified approved a teacher-led petition to relinquish the school.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
The economic progress dims hope for a nuclear deal with the U.S., since Washington has often dangled sanctions relief or economic incentives to get Pyongyang to freeze, halt or relinquish its nuclear program.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
SpaceX paid Tuttle Capital Management to relinquish the ticker symbol “SPCX” ahead of the Elon Musk company’s highly anticipated IPO, MarketWatch has learned.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
Looking at Vincent's paintings, he tells Jo, “One first has to relinquish all ones conventional ideas in order to grasp what he means. But one day he will be understood. When? That is the question.”
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
If an individual voluntarily relinquishes all future Social Security retirement benefits, why shouldn’t they be allowed to assume that risk themselves?
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Assuming the U.S. relinquishes control of Venezuela to an elected government that sets stable rules, companies may well find a way to profit there over the long term.
From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026
He never relinquishes his dignity, and Mr. Barbor-Might protects it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 25, 2025
It doesn’t matter if I fight Jon, if he relinquishes the belt, if he waits it out for a bit and then we fight, whatever.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2024
He relinquishes Anna from his grasp and takes a step towards me.
From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
New York relinquished a bucket of first-round draft picks to land Bridges, who, like Josh Hart, is a former Villanova teammate of Brunson’s, and the ROI had been meh.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
He has relinquished his active government and party roles, but during his 2008-2018 presidency, he and former US president Barack Obama presided over a short-lived thaw in Washington-Havana relations.
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
"I have never relinquished my convictions, my freedom of thought, or my independence."
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
And if Uthmeier prevails, adoptive parents across Florida could find their legal claim to their children suddenly open to challenge, potentially by the very birth parents who relinquished them, or by the state.
From Slate ● May 13, 2026
On either side of them the trees, silent, relinquished the dark color they had held, paled, grew transparent and stood white and ghastly against the black sky.
From "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson
The 46-year-old, the son-in-law of the Indian billionaire businessman Lakshmi Mittal, had been a director and co-owner of Queens Park Rangers for 18 years before relinquishing his stake in the club on Tuesday.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Doing so means permanently relinquishing control of those funds.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 17, 2026
But the American showed remarkable calm and control on a masterful front nine, featuring four birdies, to move into a lead he never looked like relinquishing.
From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2026
Elections followed, but the voluntary relinquishing of power had emboldened the military to make a takeover by force in 1962.
From Barron's ● Dec. 23, 2025
“Ron was great,” said Tonks warmly, relinquishing her hold on Lupin.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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.
