waive

[weyv]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR waive ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), waived, waiv·ing.

to refrain from claiming or insisting on; give up; forgo: to waive one's right; to waive one's rank; to waive honors.

Law. to relinquish (a known right, interest, etc.) intentionally.

to put aside for the time; defer; postpone; dispense with: to waive formalities.

to put aside or dismiss from consideration or discussion: waiving my attempts to explain.

Origin of waive

1250–1300; Middle English weyven < Anglo-French weyver to make a waif (of someone) by forsaking or outlawing (him or her)

Related formsun·waived, adjective

Can be confusedwaive wave

Synonyms for waive

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR waive ON THESAURUS.COM

1. resign, renounce, surrender, remit.

Antonyms for waive

1. demand.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for waive

relinquish, suspend, defer, renounce, grant, shelve, forgo, remove, allow, reject, abandon, postpone, surrender, cede, resign, disclaim, yield, stay, leave, delay

Examples from the Web for waive

Contemporary Examples of waive

Francis opted to waive the requisite second miracle for John XXIII usually needed for non-martyrs to reach sainthood.
Popes, Saints, Miracles, Weird Relics and Odd Omens Converge on Rome
Barbie Latza Nadeau
April 26, 2014
Most of the defendants had been convinced to waive their right to a lawyer.
‘Kids for Cash’: Crooked Judge, Damaged Teens, and the Perils of Zero Tolerance
Ronald K. Fried
February 25, 2014
But now Yanukovych has signaled that he refuses to waive even a bit of his power.
Ukraine’s Bloody Crackdown Enters Its Third Day
Oleg Shynkarenko
February 19, 2014
Hastert stopped short of saying Boehner should waive the Hastert Rule.
Denny Hastert Disses the ‘Hastert Rule’: It ‘Never Really Existed’
Eleanor Clift
October 3, 2013
That vote will surely go along party lines, meaning the committee will decide that she did waive them, but so what?
The Continuing Fizzle of the IRS Scandal
Michael Tomasky
June 27, 2013

Historical Examples of waive

This is not the point before me; but, however, I waive that objection.
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
"Well, we can afford to waive it," said counsel, with a superior smile.
A Son of Hagar
Sir Hall Caine
"We might waive the formalities in the interests of justice," purred the Lieutenant.
The Strolling Saint
Raphael Sabatini
But the urgency that his task dictated caused him to waive the point.
The Lion's Skin
Rafael Sabatini
Very honorable indeed; but at this moment we must waive a punctilio.
The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. I (of II)
Charles James Lever

British Dictionary definitions for waive

waive

verb (tr)

to set aside or relinquishto waive one's right to something

to refrain from enforcing (a claim) or applying (a law, penalty, etc)

to defer

Word Origin for waive

C13: from Old Northern French weyver, from waif abandoned; see waif

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

Word Origin and History for waive

c.1300, from Anglo-French weyver "to abandon, waive," Old French weyver, guever "to abandon, give back," probably from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse veifa "to swing about," from Proto-Germanic *waibijanan (see waif). In Middle English legal language, used of rights, goods, or women. Related: Waived; waiving.