white flag

American  

noun

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

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idioms

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

white flag British  

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

• white-flag adjective

Etymology

Origin of white flag

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

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

From Barron's

But in an interview with the Melbourne Age newspaper she took aim at Russian and Belarusian players, despite them competing under a neutral white flag as independents.

From Barron's

For weeks now, angry and distressed residents in Indonesia's westernmost province have been raising white flags over the state's slow response to a series of deadly floods.

From BBC

“We do not like the risk reward that these situations offer, and therefore we put up the white flag and said, ‘we can’t compete in this segment right now,’” Jain said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Then, lifting the red and white flag from his shoulders, he had a message for Belarusians everywhere.

From BBC