warrant
- authorization, sanction, or justification.
- something that serves to give reliable or formal assurance of something; guarantee, pledge, or security.
- something considered as having the force of a guarantee or as being positive assurance of a thing: The cavalry and artillery were considered sure warrants of success.
- a writing or document certifying or authorizing something, as a receipt, license, or commission.
- Law. an instrument, issued by a magistrate, authorizing an officer to make an arrest, seize property, make a search, or carry a judgment into execution.
- the certificate of authority or appointment issued to an officer of the armed forces below the rank of a commissioned officer.
- a warehouse receipt.
- a written authorization for the payment or receipt of money: a treasury warrant.
- to give authority to; authorize.
- to give reason or sanction for; account for: The circumstances warrant such measures.
- to give one's word for; vouch for (often used with a clause to emphasize something asserted): I'll warrant he did!
- to give a formal assurance, or a guarantee or promise, to or for; guarantee: to warrant someone honorable treatment; to warrant payment; to warrant safe delivery.
- to guarantee the quantity, quality, and other representations of (an article, product, etc.), as to a purchaser.
- to guarantee or secure title to (the purchaser of goods); assure indemnification against loss to.
- Law. to guarantee title of an estate or other granted property (to a grantee).
Origin of warrant
Related Words for warrant
sanction, license, certificate, permission, summons, subpoena, passport, permit, ticket, pledge, credential, accreditation, uphold, affirm, require, necessitate, stipulate, explain, ensure, undertakeExamples from the Web for warrant
Contemporary Examples of warrant
Antoine himself had recently been arrested on a six-year-old warrant for a dime bag of weed.
The risks are too high to warrant supporting public marriage proposals.
Not enough black films are being made to warrant a piece of the pie.
Ava DuVernay on ‘Selma,’ the Racist Sony Emails, and Making Golden Globes HistoryMarlow Stern
December 15, 2014
Olga was on guard as always, and categorically refused to open the door unless the police produced a warrant.
There are indeed cases of serious harassment that warrant both public scrutiny and close attention from law enforcement.
Historical Examples of warrant
"If your cask is leer, I warrant your purse is full, gaffer," shouted Hordle John.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
"If you will warrant the beer, I will warrant the throat," said John composedly.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
I'll warrant you have lost a dozen between Mallory's and here.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
Again Kitty nodded, after looking up at him in alarm when he spoke of the warrant.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
But I'll warrant you there's a kitchen garden in the rear of the palace.
Tanglewood TalesNathaniel Hawthorne
warrant
- anything that gives authority for an action or decision; authorization; sanction
- a document that certifies or guarantees, such as a receipt for goods stored in a warehouse, a licence, or a commission
- law an authorization issued by a magistrate or other official allowing a constable or other officer to search or seize property, arrest a person, or perform some other specified act
- (in certain armed services) the official authority for the appointment of warrant officers
- a security that functions as a stock option by giving the owner the right to buy ordinary shares in a company at a specified date, often at a specified price
- to guarantee the quality, condition, etc, of (something)
- to give authority or power to
- to attest to or assure the character, worthiness, etc, of
- to guarantee (a purchaser of merchandise) against loss of, damage to, or misrepresentation concerning the merchandise
- law to guarantee (the title to an estate or other property)
- to declare boldly and confidently
Word Origin for warrant
Word Origin and History for warrant
early 13c., "protector, defender," from Old North French warant (Old French garant), from Frankish *warand (cf. Old High German weren "to authorize, warrant," German gewähren "to grant"), from Proto-Germanic *war- "to warn, guard, protect," perhaps from PIE root *wer- "to cover" (cf. Latin vereri "to observe with awe, revere, respect, fear;" Greek ouros "watchman," horan "to see;" Hittite werite- "to see;" see weir).
Sense evolved via notion of "permission from a superior which protects one from blame or responsibility" (c.1300) to "document conveying authority" (1510s). A warrant officer in the military is one who holds office by warrant, rather than by commission.
late 13c., "to keep safe from danger," from Old North French warantir (Old French garantir), from warant (see warrant (n.)).
Meaning "to guarantee to be of quality" is attested from late 14c.; sense of "to guarantee as true" is recorded from c.1300. Related: Warranted; warranting.
Idioms and Phrases with warrant
warrant
see sign one's own death warrant.