warrant
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to make a particular action or reaction necessary or right.
v.to serve as adequate ground or reason for an action or conclusion. Transitive — requires a direct object.
Simple“The situation was serious, but it did not warrant such a violent reaction.”
In context“While the initial findings are promising, they do not yet warrant a full-scale clinical trial without further peer-reviewed data.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
v.to promise that something is true or of good quality.
v.to guarantee the quality, truth, or validity of something. Often used in commercial or legal guarantees.
Simple“The manufacturer warrants that the engine will last for ten years.”
In context“The seller warrants that the property is free of all liens and encumbrances at the time of the transaction.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.an official document signed by a judge that allows the police to do something, like search a house.
n.a judicial writ or order authorizing an officer to make an arrest, a seizure, or a search.
Simple“The police had a warrant to search the suspect's apartment for evidence.”
In context“The judge refused to sign the search warrant, citing a lack of probable cause in the detective's affidavit.”
Synonyms - 04 C1 Advanced
n.a document that gives you the right to buy shares in a company at a fixed price.
n.a derivative security that gives the holder the right to purchase securities from the issuer at a specific price within a certain time frame.
Simple“The investors were offered warrants as part of the new funding deal.”
In context“The company issued stock warrants to its early employees, allowing them to purchase shares at a significant discount if the firm went public.”
- 05 C1 Advanced
n.a rank in the army or navy that is above a sergeant but below a regular officer.
n.shortened form of 'warrant officer'; a rank in many military services held by technical experts.
Simple“He was promoted to warrant officer after ten years of technical service.”
In context“The warrant was responsible for the maintenance of the aircraft's complex radar systems.”
Synonyms
Usage warrant immediate · warrant attention · warrant consideration
“High humidity is also contributing to the uncomfortable conditions and is helping push the heat index to such high levels to warrant the extreme heat warnings.”
“Some farmers have crop damage that is not severe enough to warrant an insurance claim, so those numbers are excluded from our analysis.”
The noun is derived from Middle English warant (“protector; guard, shield, protection”), from Anglo-Norman warrant, Old Northern French warant, warand, a variant of Old French guarant, garant, garand (“assurance, guarantee; authorization, permission; protector; protection, safety”) (modern French garant), from Frankish warand, present participle of warjan (“to fend off; to stop, thwart”). The word is cognate with Old High German werento (“guarantor”). The verb is derived from Middle English warrant, waranten (“to give protection; to protect, shield; to assure, pledge, promise; to guarantee”), from Anglo-Norman warantir, warandir, warentir, and Old Northern French warandir, warantir, variant forms of Old French guarantir (“to protect”) (modern French garantir), a Romance formation from the noun guarant: see above.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.