Definition of "veto" []

• The vested power or constitutional right of one branch or department of government to refuse approval of measures proposed by another department, especially the power of a chief executive to reject a bill passed by the legislature and thus prevent or delay its enactment into law. (noun)
• Exercise of this right. (noun)
• An official document or message from a chief executive stating the reasons for rejection of a bill. (noun)
• An authoritative prohibition or rejection of a proposed or intended act. (noun)
• To prevent (a legislative bill) from becoming law by exercising the power of veto. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "This agitation from without rendered the debates upon the veto stormy; in this way a very simple question acquired great importance, and the ministry, perceiving how fatal the influence of an absolute decision might prove, and seeing, also, that the _unlimited veto_ and the _suspensive veto_ were one and the same thing, induced the king to be satisfied with the latter, and give up the former."
• ""They avoid using the term veto power, but that is clearly all they are willing to accept.""
• "Perhaps equally important, a veto is a far more powerful political gesture; a signing statement would seem particularly devious and unsatisfying, both to the public at large, and, perhaps more importantly, to the President's supporters in the pro-life movement, who would have demanded a clear rejection of the bill rather than allowing it to become law."