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Definition of "abdicate" []

  • To relinquish (power or responsibility) formally. (verb-transitive)
  • To relinquish formally a high office or responsibility. (verb-intransitive)

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.

Use "abdicate" in a sentence
  • "The word abdicate has to our ears a certain regal sound."
  • "And, opinion polls have suggested, done by various television networks that over 55 percent still want her to stay on the throne and not to retire or even to abdicate, which is not in our constitution anyway."
  • "Kamal Abu Sena urges the president to live with dignity and "abdicate," as he put it."