warrant
Americannoun
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warrants
plural
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authorization, sanction, or justification.
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something that serves to give reliable or formal assurance of something; guarantee, pledge, or security.
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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.
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a writing or document certifying or authorizing something, as a receipt, license, or commission.
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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.
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the certificate of authority or appointment issued to an officer of the armed forces below the rank of a commissioned officer.
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a warehouse receipt.
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a written authorization for the payment or receipt of money.
a treasury warrant.
verb (used with object)
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warrants,
present (3rd person singular)
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warranted,
past participle, past
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warranting
present participle
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to give authority to; authorize.
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to give reason or sanction for; account for.
The circumstances warrant such measures.
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to give one's word for; vouch for (often used with a clause to emphasize something asserted).
I'll warrant he did!
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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.
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to guarantee the quantity, quality, and other representations of (an article, product, etc.), as to a purchaser.
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to guarantee or secure title to (the purchaser of goods); assure indemnification against loss to.
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Law. to guarantee title of an estate or other granted property (to a grantee).
noun
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anything that gives authority for an action or decision; authorization; sanction
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a document that certifies or guarantees, such as a receipt for goods stored in a warehouse, a licence, or a commission
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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
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(in certain armed services) the official authority for the appointment of warrant officers
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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
verb
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to guarantee the quality, condition, etc, of (something)
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to give authority or power to
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to attest to or assure the character, worthiness, etc, of
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to guarantee (a purchaser of merchandise) against loss of, damage to, or misrepresentation concerning the merchandise
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law to guarantee (the title to an estate or other property)
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to declare boldly and confidently
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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prewarrantnoun
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warrantabilitynoun
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warranternoun
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rewarrantverb (used with object)
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self-warrantingadjective
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warrantableadjective
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warrantlessadjective
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warrantablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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warrantsimple
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warrantssimple
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have warrantedperfect
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has warrantedperfect
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am warrantingprogressive
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are warrantingprogressive
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is warrantingprogressive
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have been warrantingperfect progressive
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has been warrantingperfect progressive
Past
-
warrantedsimple
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had warrantedperfect
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was warrantingprogressive
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were warrantingprogressive
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had been warrantingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of warrant
First recorded in 1175–1225; (noun) Middle English warant, from Anglo-French; Old French guarant, from Germanic; compare Middle Low German warend, warent “warranty,” noun use of present participle of waren “to warrant”; (verb) Middle English, from Anglo-French warantir; Old French g(u)arantir, derivative of guarant; see guaranty
Explanation
If you watch cop shows, you know that a warrant is something police need to get into your house — a permission slip from a judge. It's a noun! It's a verb! It's a word that warrants our attention! As a noun, it's the piece of paper they show you through the keyhole during an investigation. It's also a reason for doing something, or a promise (think of the warranty on your new car, the promise that it'll work for a certain amount of time). As a verb, it means to make something seem reasonable or necessary, such as when the ticking suitcase warrants bringing in the bomb squad, or when the teenager's sneaking in late again warrants a stricter curfew.
Vocabulary lists containing warrant
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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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:
Micron trades lower while Marvell surges after the company issues a warrant to Google to purchase up to 59 million shares of the chip company.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Exactly three months later, when Walter arrived in his private plane at Chicago Midway International Airport, federal agents stepped forward with a search warrant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
In a letter to Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao on Wednesday, Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said that reports of shortages and poor conditions "warrant immediate attention".
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
According to Sheinbaum, U.S. authorities have not provided their Mexican counterparts with sufficient evidence to warrant the governor’s detention or extradition to the United States.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
“In accordance with New Order 15, President Gray issued an arrest warrant for all persons involved with this dangerous activity....”
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
Raids have happened in Germany before, but often relied on French or Belgian warrants.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Other ideas: “No exclamation points unless something genuinely warrants one,” or “Don’t end responses with unsolicited encouragement.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
However, he said the consistency of the changes across a large population warrants attention.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
The “adjustment” meant a lot to its profit, as it took a $1.69 billion loss on the revaluation of warrants issued last year.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
Christina laughs, maybe a little harder than my comment warrants, but I appreciate the effort.
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
Bradnam recommended that these issues warranted "further investigation" due to the potential risks to "equipment reliability and the possibility of microbial growth".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
To the extent that significant unavoidable and genuinely catastrophic physical and financial damage to Florida crops caused by severe weather has not been addressed by other programs, federal help may be warranted.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
If a joint study determines that indigenous enrichment is warranted, Americans would build the facility under a secretive “black box” arrangement, avoiding the transfer of sensitive enrichment technology to Riyadh.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín scheduled an Aug. 3 hearing to determine whether a longer-term pause is warranted.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
By staying the case, the Alabama Supreme Court had signaled there was something unusual about Walter’s case that warranted further review in the lower courts.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
However, when federal regulators previously reviewed environmental concerns related to mifepristone, they found no evidence warranting restrictions, according to Bernstein.
From Salon ● Jul. 6, 2026
That would give greater cause for concern about U.K. inflation persistence, over that of weaker demand, warranting slower withdrawal of monetary-policy restriction, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
Some policymakers, however, “noted that, by several measures, financial conditions suggested that monetary policy may not be particularly restrictive, which they judged as warranting a cautious approach,” according to the minutes.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2025
The group stands out within the increasingly desolate Facebook newsfeed, not just for the volume of its posts but also the intensity of engagement, warranting a 30-person-strong moderation team.
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2024
He looked upon the cases, however, as showing some remarkable results, warranting a careful study.
From The No Breakfast Plan and the Fasting-Cure by Edward Hooker Dewey
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.
