veto
the power or right vested in one branch of a government to cancel or postpone the decisions, enactments, etc., of another branch, especially the right of a president, governor, or other chief executive to reject bills passed by the legislature.
the exercise of this right.
Also called veto message. a document exercising such right and setting forth the reasons for such action.
a nonconcurring vote by which one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council can overrule the actions or decisions of the meeting on matters other than procedural.
an emphatic prohibition of any sort.
to reject (a proposed bill or enactment) by exercising a veto.
to prohibit emphatically.
Origin of veto
1Other words from veto
- ve·to·er, noun
- pre·ve·to, noun, plural pre·ve·toes, verb (used with object), pre·ve·toed, pre·ve·to·ing.
- re·ve·to, verb (used with object), re·ve·toed, re·ve·to·ing.
- un·ve·toed, adjective
Words Nearby veto
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use veto in a sentence
They were looking for “electorally generated veto points” — that is to say, elected bodies that could block change.
It took about a year, but they changed that golden-share, that veto power over major transactions into what they called the Public Interest Foundation.
Podcast: How Russia’s everything company works with the Kremlin | Anthony Green | September 30, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewA state law passed just before Ikrata’s arrival gave the city of San Diego an effective veto at SANDAG.
Politics Report: Audit Day at SANDAG | Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts | September 19, 2020 | Voice of San DiegoIf reformers hope to succeed in curbing overpolicing, they will first have to overcome the challenge of underpolicing, which has often allowed officers to exercise an effective veto on reform.
What Can Mayors Do When the Police Stop Doing Their Jobs? | by Alec MacGillis | September 3, 2020 | ProPublicaSan Diego needs support from just two other cities to exercise a veto.
Politics Report: Who Will Get the Midway Rose? | Scott Lewis and Andrew Keatts | August 15, 2020 | Voice of San Diego
Immediately, there was a national groundswell of voices calling for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer to veto the bill.
By giving an artistic veto to a madman, we submit to the mindset of a slave.
The Sony Hack and America’s Craven Capitulation To Terror | David Keyes | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn his veto message, Christie also chided Democratic lawmakers for “using their lawmaking authority to play politics.”
Christie Bows to Iowa’s Pork Kings on Gestation Crates | Olivia Nuzzi | November 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWith the second veto on Friday, however, all bets seemed to be off.
Christie Bows to Iowa’s Pork Kings on Gestation Crates | Olivia Nuzzi | November 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn fact, because the House never voted, he never got the chance to sign or veto anything.
SNL Parodies Schoolhouse Rock Hilariously, Gets A Lot Wrong | Jack Holmes, The Daily Beast Video | November 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe worthy knight not being now alive to veto the project, a figure of him has been placed opposite the College in Edmund Street.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham | Thomas T. Harman and Walter ShowellIt made me furious, too, to see my ambition nipped with the frost of a possible veto from Miss Smawl.
In Search of the Unknown | Robert W. ChambersThis protection was exercised mainly through the use of the veto power given to the tribunes.
The Two Great Republics: Rome and the United States | James Hamilton LewisAnd this repeal is demanded because a single State interposes her veto, and threatens resistance!
Select Speeches of Daniel Webster | Daniel WebsterTo make it possible for the tribunes to give such protection, the veto had been granted to them.
The Two Great Republics: Rome and the United States | James Hamilton Lewis
British Dictionary definitions for veto
/ (ˈviːtəʊ) /
the power to prevent legislation or action proposed by others; prohibition: the presidential veto
the exercise of this power
Also called: veto message US government a document containing the reasons why a chief executive has vetoed a measure
to refuse consent to (a proposal, esp a government bill)
to prohibit, ban, or forbid: her parents vetoed her trip
Origin of veto
1Derived forms of veto
- vetoer, noun
- vetoless, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for veto (1 of 2)
A vote that blocks a decision. In the United Nations, for example, each of the five permanent members of the Security Council has the power of veto.
The power of a president or governor to reject a bill proposed by a legislature by refusing to sign it into law. The president or governor actually writes the word veto (Latin for “I forbid”) on the bill and sends it back to the legislature with a statement of his or her objections. The legislature may choose to comply by withdrawing or revising the bill, or it can override the veto and pass the law, by a two-thirds vote in each house.
Notes for veto
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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