WARRANT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does warrant mean? 

• WARRANT (noun)
  The noun WARRANT has 4 senses:

1. a writ from a court commanding police to perform specified acts

2. a type of security issued by a corporation (usually together with a bond or preferred stock) that gives the holder the right to purchase a certain amount of common stock at a stated price

3. formal and explicit approval

4. a written assurance that some product or service will be provided or will meet certain specifications

  Familiarity information: WARRANT used as a noun is uncommon.

• WARRANT (verb)
  The verb WARRANT has 2 senses:

1. provide adequate grounds to justify (a certain course of action)

2. stand behind and guarantee the quality, accuracy, or condition of

  Familiarity information: WARRANT used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WARRANT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A writ from a court commanding police to perform specified acts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("warrant" is a kind of...):

judicial writ; writ ((law) a legal document issued by a court or judicial officer)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "warrant"):

arrest warrant; bench warrant (a warrant authorizing law enforcement officials to apprehend an offender and bring that person to court)

death warrant (a warrant to execute the death sentence)

cachet; lettre de cachet (a warrant formerly issued by a French king who could warrant imprisonment or death in a signed letter under his seal)

reprieve (a warrant granting postponement (usually to postpone the execution of the death sentence))

commutation (a warrant substituting a lesser punishment for a greater one)

amnesty; pardon (a warrant granting release from punishment for an offense)

search warrant (a warrant authorizing law enforcement officials to search for objects or people involved in the commission of a crime and to produce them in court; the warrant describes the locations where the officials may search)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A type of security issued by a corporation (usually together with a bond or preferred stock) that gives the holder the right to purchase a certain amount of common stock at a stated price

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

stock-purchase warrant; stock warrant; warrant

Context example:

as a sweetener they offered warrants along with the fixed-income securities

Hypernyms ("warrant" is a kind of...):

security; surety (property that your creditor can claim in case you default on your obligation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "warrant"):

perpetual warrant (a warrant with no expiration date)

subscription warrant (a warrant that expires on a stipulated date)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Formal and explicit approval

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

countenance; endorsement; imprimatur; indorsement; sanction; warrant

Context example:

a Democrat usually gets the union's endorsement

Hypernyms ("warrant" is a kind of...):

approval; commendation (a message expressing a favorable opinion)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "warrant"):

O.K.; OK; okay; okeh; okey (an endorsement)

visa (an endorsement made in a passport that allows the bearer to enter the country issuing it)

nihil obstat (the phrase used by the official censor of the Roman Catholic Church to say that a publication has been examined and contains nothing offensive to the church)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A written assurance that some product or service will be provided or will meet certain specifications

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

guarantee; warrant; warrantee; warranty

Hypernyms ("warrant" is a kind of...):

assurance; pledge (a binding commitment to do or give or refrain from something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "warrant"):

deposit (a payment given as a guarantee that an obligation will be met)

stock warrant (a written certificate that gives the holder the right to purchase shares of a stock for a specified price within a specified period of time)

security; surety (a guarantee that an obligation will be met)

Derivation:

warrant (stand behind and guarantee the quality, accuracy, or condition of)

• WARRANT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they warrant    ... he / she / it warrants   
Past simple: warranted   
Past participle: warranted   
-ing form: warranting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Provide adequate grounds to justify (a certain course of action)

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

The emergency does not warrant all of us buying guns

Hypernyms (to "warrant" is one way to...):

justify; vindicate (show to be right by providing justification or proof)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Stand behind and guarantee the quality, accuracy, or condition of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

guarantee; warrant

Context example:

I warrant this information

Hypernyms (to "warrant" is one way to...):

back; endorse; indorse; plump for; plunk for; support (be behind; approve of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "warrant"):

cover; insure; underwrite (protect by insurance)

certify; endorse; indorse (guarantee as meeting a certain standard)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

warrant (a written assurance that some product or service will be provided or will meet certain specifications)

warrantee (a customer to whom a warrant or guarantee is given)

warranter; warrantor (one who provides a warrant or guarantee to another)

 Context examples 

Oh, I'll warrant you know where to go and what to do.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I have been followed from London Bridge Station, and I am sure that they are only waiting for the warrant to arrest me.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Why, man, you are no chicken, yet I warrant him the stronger man.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There is nothing upon which we can apply for a warrant.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I started forward and exclaimed, “Villain! Before you sign my death-warrant, be sure that you are yourself safe.”

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Yes, sir, I have a warrant.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I warrant you, Miss Marianne would have been ready to wait till matters came round.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

An inked deep surgical margin that indicates the outermost layer of connective tissue covering an organ or a vessel has been identified as an area warranting further study.

(Deep Adventitial Inked Margin, NCI Thesaurus)

Intraurothelial neoplasia characterized by dysplastic changes which are not severe enough to warrant the diagnosis of bladder carcinoma in situ. — 2003

(Bladder Low Grade Intraurothelial Neoplasia, NCI Thesaurus)

A few who are licensed to prescribe may recommend pharmaceuticals in those cases where they feel their use is warranted.

(Naturopathy Therapy, NCI Thesaurus)