- grant
- grant vb1 Grant, concede, vouchsafe, accord, award denote to give as a favor or as a right.One grants, usually to a claimant or a petitioner and often a subordinate, as an act of justice or indulgence, something that is requested or demanded and that could be withheld{
the governor granted the condemned man a week's respite
}{he begged the Lord to grant him his prayer
}{any political rights which the dominant race might . . . withhold or grant at their pleasure— Taney
}{save . . . every drop of rain the heavens grant— Lord
}One concedes something claimed or expected as a right, prerogative, or possession when one yields it with reluctance and, usually, in response to some compelling force in the claim or the claimant{if we mean to conciliate and concede, let us see of what nature the concession ought to be— Burke
}{as an instrument of mind-training, and even of liberal education, it [science] seems to me to have a far higher value than is usually conceded to it by humanists— Inge
}{even his harshest critics concede him a rocklike integrity— Time
}One vouchsafes something prayed for, begged for, or expected as a courtesy, when one grants it to a person inferior in dignity or station. The word is often found in supplications where it implies humility in the suppliant{vouchsafe O Lord: to keep us this day without sin— Book of Common Prayer
}Often it is ironical and then usually suggests absurd condescension{he vouchsafed no reply to our question
}{the occasional answers that Stalin used to vouchsafe to inquiries from American correspondents— Davis
}One accords to another something admittedly his due or in keeping with his character or status{he treated bishops with the superficial deference that a sergeant major accords to a junior subaltern— Mackenzie
}{children . . . will readily accord to others what others accord to them— Russell
}One awards something that is deserved or merited; the word usually implies determination by legal adjudication or by judges in a contest or competition{the plaintiff was awarded heavy damages
}{award a prize for the best story
}{his victory was duly acclaimed by Senate and People; he was given the title of Imperator and awarded a triumph— Buchan
}Analogous words: bestow, confer, *give, present, donate: *allot, assign, apportion, allocate: cede, yield, surrender, *relinquish2 Grant, concede, allow are comparable when they mean to admit something in question, especially a point or contention of one's opponent in an argument.Grant usually implies voluntary acceptance in advance of proof in order to clarify the issues or to center attention on what are regarded as the main issues{I grant there is no obvious motive
}{let us take his goodwill for granted
}{the consistency of arithmetic being granted, that of projective geometry follows— Sawyer
}Concede implies reluctant acceptance either before or after proofs have been advanced; it usually suggests the strength of the opponent's contention{he was unwilling to concede the supremacy of any group
}{still less does he concede that the British have any claim to the gratitude of the inhabitants— Michael Clark
}Allow implies acceptance, but usually a somewhat qualified acceptance; it often suggests admission on the ground of apparent truth, logical validity, or reasonableness{even Wickham had allowed him merit as a brother— Austen
}{if one allows that it is impossible to define God in intelligible terms, then one is allowing that it is impossible for a sentence both to be significant and to be about God— Ayer
}{allowing that Harding was her first lover— S. H. Adams
}Analogous words: admit, *acknowledge: *agree, concur, coincidegrant n *appropriation, subvention, subsidyAnalogous words: *donation, benefaction, contribution
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
