accept

/ɛkˈsɛpt/

/ɛkˈsɛpt/

Other forms: accepted; accepting; accepts

Please accept ("favorably receive") our apologies, but you're just going to have to accept ("put up with") the fact that this verb has almost a dozen different meanings.

You might accept ("take") bribes from people who dislike multiple meanings, or they might challenge you to a duel, which you might accept ("consent to"). When historians record your story, you might accept ("officially receive") their books and accept ("hold as true") the most flattering one. When you apply to cool-people clubs, they'll accept ("admit") you, and when you go broke, they'll accept ("take on") your debt, until the day your coffin accepts ("takes") your weary accepting bones.

Definitions of accept

1. verb

   receive willingly something given or offered
   “Please accept my present”

   synonyms: have, take

   have, receive

   get something; come into possession of

   antonyms:

   refuse

   refuse to accept

   disdain, freeze off, pooh-pooh, reject, scorn, spurn, turn down

   reject with contempt

   types:

   admit, take, take on

   admit into a group or community

   welcome

   accept gladly

   honor, honour

   accept as pay

   adopt, borrow, take over, take up

   take up and practice as one's own

   profess

   receive into a religious order or congregation

   type of:

   acquire, get

   come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
2. verb

   receive (a report) officially, as from a committee
   type of:

   have, receive

   get something; come into possession of
3. verb

   admit into a group or community
   “accept students for graduate study”

   synonyms: admit, take, take on

   admit, include, let in

   allow participation in or the right to be part of; permit to exercise the rights, functions, and responsibilities of

   types:

   profess

   receive into a religious order or congregation

   type of:

   have, take

   receive willingly something given or offered
4. verb

   consider or hold as true
   “I cannot accept the dogma of this church”

   “accept an argument”

   antonyms:

   reject

   refuse to accept or acknowledge

   types:

   acknowledge, know, recognise, recognize

   accept (someone) to be what is claimed or accept his power and authority

   adopt, embrace, espouse, sweep up

   take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one's own

   believe

   accept as true; take to be true

   receive

   accept as true or valid

   approbate

   accept (documents) as valid

   reconcile, resign, submit

   accept as inevitable

   acknowledge

   accept as legally binding and valid

   take a bow

   acknowledge praise or accept credit

   abide by, honor, honour, observe, respect

   show respect towards

   infer, understand

   believe to be the case

   swallow

   believe or accept without questioning or challenge

   fasten on, hook on, latch on, seize on, take up

   adopt

   buy

   accept as true

   believe

   follow a credo; have a faith; be a believer

   bank, rely, swear, trust

   have confidence or faith in

   believe in

   have a firm conviction as to the goodness of something

   celebrate, lionise, lionize

   assign great social importance to

   tolerate

   recognize and respect (rights and beliefs of others)

   type of:

   evaluate, judge, pass judgment

   form a critical opinion of
5. verb

   react favorably to; consider right and proper
   “People did not accept atonal music at that time”

   “We accept the idea of universal health care”

   type of:

   react, respond

   show a response or a reaction to something
6. verb

   tolerate or accommodate oneself to
   “I shall have to accept these unpleasant working conditions”

   synonyms: live with, swallow

   type of:

   abide, bear, brook, digest, endure, put up, stand, stick out, stomach, suffer, support, tolerate

   put up with something or somebody unpleasant
7. verb

   give an affirmative reply to; respond favorably to
   “I cannot accept your invitation”

   synonyms: consent, go for

   antonyms:

   refuse

   show unwillingness towards

   types:

   give

   consent to engage in sexual intercourse with a man

   agree

   consent or assent to a condition, or agree to do something

   settle

   accept despite lack of complete satisfaction

   contract in

   consent in writing to pay money to a trade union for political use

   allow, countenance, let, permit

   consent to, give permission

   buckle, buckle under, give in, knuckle under, succumb, yield

   consent reluctantly

   take in charge, undertake

   accept as a charge

   abide, bear, brook, digest, endure, put up, stand, stick out, stomach, suffer, support, tolerate

   put up with something or somebody unpleasant

   furlough

   grant a leave to

   give

   allow to have or take

   plea-bargain

   agree to plead guilty in return for a lesser charge

   bargain

   come to terms; arrive at an agreement

   allow, permit, tolerate

   allow the presence of or allow (an activity) without opposing or prohibiting

   authorise, authorize, clear, pass

   grant authorization or clearance for

   accede, acquiesce, assent

   agree or express agreement

   accede, bow, defer, give in, submit

   yield to another's wish or opinion

   admit, include, let in

   allow participation in or the right to be part of; permit to exercise the rights, functions, and responsibilities of

   favor, favour, privilege

   bestow a privilege upon

   decriminalise, decriminalize, legalise, legalize, legitimate, legitimatise, legitimatize, legitimise, legitimize

   make legal

   trust

   allow without fear

   admit, allow in, intromit, let in

   allow to enter; grant entry to

   type of:

   react, respond

   show a response or a reaction to something
8. verb

   take on as one's own the expenses or debts of another person
   “I'll accept the charges”

   synonyms: assume, bear, take over

   types:

   carry-the can, face the music

   accept the unpleasant consequences of one's actions

   type of:

   take

   take into one's possession
9. verb

   be designed to hold or take
   synonyms: take

   type of:

   be

   have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)
10. verb

    make use of or accept for some purpose
    synonyms: take

    types:

    co-opt

    take or assume for one's own use
11. verb

    be sexually responsive to, used of a female domesticated mammal
    type of:

    react, respond

    show a response or a reaction to something