stipulate
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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stipulates,
present (3rd person singular)
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stipulated,
past participle, past
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stipulating
present participle
verb (used with object)
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stipulates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stipulated,
past participle, past
-
stipulating
present participle
-
to arrange expressly or specify in terms of agreement.
to stipulate a price.
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to require as an essential condition in making an agreement.
Total disarmament was stipulated in the peace treaty.
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to promise, in making an agreement.
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Law. to accept (a proposition) without requiring that it be established by proof.
to stipulate the existence of certain facts or that an expert witness is qualified.
adjective
verb
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(tr; may take a clause as object) to specify, often as a condition of an agreement
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to insist (on) as a term of an agreement
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Roman law to make (an oral contract) in the form of question and answer necessary to render it legally valid
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(tr; may take a clause as object) to guarantee or promise
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stipulatesimple
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stipulatessimple
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have stipulatedperfect
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has stipulatedperfect
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am stipulatingprogressive
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are stipulatingprogressive
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is stipulatingprogressive
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have been stipulatingperfect progressive
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has been stipulatingperfect progressive
Past
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stipulatedsimple
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had stipulatedperfect
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was stipulatingprogressive
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were stipulatingprogressive
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had been stipulatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stipulate1
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin stipulātus (past participle of stipulārī “to demand a formal agreement”), apparently equivalent to stipul- ( see stipule) + -ātus -ate 1
Origin of stipulate2
From the New Latin word stipulātus, dating back to 1770–80. See stipule, -ate 1
Explanation
To stipulate something means to demand that it be part of an agreement. So when you make a contract or deal, you can stipulate that a certain condition must be met. Anytime you draw up a legal agreement, you can stipulate a requirement that has to be met for that agreement to be complete. This stipulation might put some sort of limit on the agreement. For example, if you run a fencing company and offer a sale, you can stipulate that to get the sale price, the fence must be ordered by a certain date. Your customer, in turn, might stipulate that the work must be finished before the ground freezes.
Vocabulary lists containing stipulate
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Great Expectations
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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:
But its bylaws stipulate that the entity can be dissolved at any time, which means the billionaire could regain control of it as soon as his second term ends in 2029.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
Martin noted some virtual jobs stipulate no promotions during onboarding, as some employers who are enforcing return-to-office rules actively favor their on-site staff for advancement.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 27, 2026
The regulations stipulate Chelsea cannot record losses of more than than £52.2m once certain Uefa allowances are applied when filing their accounts at the end of June.
From BBC ● May 4, 2026
The documents stipulate the couple held a trust worth $200 million — all of which would become Michael’s in the event of Kerri’s death.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026
“This conclave cannot stipulate how I train my apprentices! It is my sole right to teach them, train them, and discipline them!”
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
It says the Department of Transport is currently considering the zero-emission vehicle mandate, which stipulates what proportion of cars sold each year must be electric.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
It currently stipulates that a player’s eligibility clock begins with either their full-time enrollment or the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
The efficient-markets hypothesis, developed decades ago by economists at the University of Chicago, stipulates that all available information is already factored into the market price.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
The agreement also stipulates an end to fighting in Lebanon and that its “territorial integrity and sovereignty” must be ensured, language that drew criticism from Israel’s security establishment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
“Tano had a lot of goons,” Autumn stipulates, finger-spelling goons.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
“It does not prevent the County from agreeing to a standstill. It does not prevent the county from returning to court with a stipulated resolution.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Lofgren and Amo noted in their letter that the Energy secretary spoke to the Science Committee more than three weeks after department attorneys stipulated to the opposite in court documents signed May 15, 2026.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
It was part of a broader bilingual policy adopted in the 1960s, which stipulated English to be spoken by all Singaporeans, along with their "mother tongue", a language determined by their ethnicity.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
"The persistence of structural primary budget deficits until 2029 may require tighter monetary policy than stipulated by the baseline scenario," the central bank said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
And she waited for the week that the dibia had stipulated, but Kainene did not come home.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Aside from stipulating how to divide assets, it safeguards which children from prior relationships will receive an inheritance.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
Matt Fitzgerald, Santander Consumer’s executive vice president of sales and marketing, described a conversation with Dundon about “stips,” or statements stipulating the borrower’s income, address and phone number have been verified.
From Salon ● Mar. 30, 2026
The Uniform Code of Military Justice, or UCMJ, contains several provisions stipulating that servicemembers are liable for illegal orders even if they were given by a superior officer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
The decree cited laws stipulating that a Malagasy who voluntarily acquires a foreign nationality loses their Malagasy nationality.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2025
It was a nondisclosure form stipulating that father and son would not tell anyone what had gone on inside the prison.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
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.
