submit

Meanings

1. To hand in or present something for a decision or approval.
2. To accept the authority or control of someone else; to yield.
3. To suggest or state something politely, especially in an argument.

Example sentences

• "Please submit your essay by Friday."

  Level B1, Meaning 1

• "Students must submit the form online."

  Level B1, Meaning 1

• "The company submitted a plan to the city council."

  Level B2, Meaning 1

• "The rebels refused to submit to the new government."

  Level B2, Meaning 2

• "I submit that the evidence does not support that claim."

  Level C1, Meaning 3

• "She submitted to the search without argument."

  Level C1, Meaning 2

Synonyms and antonyms

Look-alikes and common mistakes

• admit : Admit means to confess or to let in. Submit means to hand over or to yield.
• summit : A summit is the top of a mountain or a high level meeting. It sounds a little like submit.
• surrender : Surrender means to give up completely, often in a conflict. Submit can be milder, such as accepting a rule.

Word family and forms

Forms: submits, submitted, submitting

Word partners

Words and phrases that often go with "submit".

• submit an application
• submit a form
• submit a report
• submit to authority
• submit a claim
• submit for review
• submit your work
• submit a proposal

Origin

Submit came into English in the 1300s from the Latin word submittere, meaning to lower, reduce or yield. The Latin word joins sub, meaning under, with mittere, meaning to send. The same root gives the word mission.

Checked against: Wiktionary, the free dictionary, Dictionary.com.

Usage notes

"Submit" is often followed by "to," both for handing in work and for yielding to authority, two related but distinct senses.

How to remember it

Break it into sub, which means under, and mit, from a Latin verb meaning to send. To submit is to send something under someone's judgment, or to place yourself under their power.

Test yourself

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