Synonyms

white flag

American

noun

an all-white banner or piece of cloth, used as a symbol of surrender or truce.

idioms

hoist / show / wave the white flag, to give up; weaken; yield.

white flag British

noun

a white flag or a piece of white cloth hoisted to signify surrender or request a truce

"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

Other Word Forms

white-flag

adjective

Etymology

Origin of white flag

First recorded in 1590–1600

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:

white flag

“But if they think I’m going to give up, wave the white flag, they got me wrong.”

From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026

Externally, the move to trade away one of the league’s top scorers is seen as waving the white flag on yet another disappointing season.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

In short, they are waving the white flag on the idea of predicting when the war will end and the oil will flow.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 31, 2026

Wall Street’s last remaining Seagate bear waved the white flag on his Negative rating earlier this month.

From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026

Lee jots a quick note intended for Grant and hands it to a Confederate soldier, who gallops toward the Union lines under a white flag.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023