ENGLISH
REFERENCE

revoke

v.
C1 Advanced US //ɹiˈvoʊk// UK //ɹɪvˈəʊk// re·voke Archaic

v. to officially cancel a law, a license, or a decision. When an authority revokes something, it is no longer valid or allowed.

v. to officially cancel or rescind a decree, decision, or privilege. Transitive; requires a direct object representing the legal or formal instrument being nullified.


SIMPLE

The city decided to revoke his driver's license.

CONTEXTUAL

The committee had to revoke the athlete's medal after a positive drug test revealed a violation of the rules.

COMPLEX

The government may revoke a citizen's passport if there is sufficient evidence that they intend to flee the country to avoid criminal prosecution.

Synonyms
Origin

Borrowed from Middle French révoquer, from Latin revocare, from re- + voco, vocare. Doublet of revocate.

Usage

The verb is transitive and typically takes objects like 'license', 'permit', 'privilege', or 'offer'.

Pitfall

The law was revoked by the people.The law was repealed by the people.While 'revoke' is used for specific licenses or individual privileges, 'repeal' is the more accurate term for the legislative cancellation of a law.

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