options

Noun

option (plural options)

1. One of a set of choices that can be made.
   • Luiz struggled with the movement of Helguson in the box, as he collected a long ball and the Spaniard barged him over, leaving referee Chris Foy little option but to point to the spot.2011 October 23, Becky Ashton, “QPR 1 - 0 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport
2. The freedom or right to choose.
   • The marriage had not been contracted by the father, who was apparently dead, but by an agnatic guardian, so that it was liable to cancellation at the option of the girl on her attaining puberty.1895, Roland Knyvet Wilson, A Digest of Anglo-Muhammadan Law
3. A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset at a set strike price; can apply to financial market transactions, or to ordinary transactions for tangible assets such as a residence or automobile.
   • There's a book out on us and there's gonna be a movie based on the book. ABC has bought the option for a movie to be made specially for T.V.1977 August 13, Pala Bennett, Mary Jo Risher, Ann Foreman, “"I'm A Mother, And I'm A Good One."”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 6, page 8
4. (uncountable) The acquiring or retention of a nationality through personal choice as a right, bypassing selective legal mechanisms for naturalization, especially in cases where a territory is transferred or passed on from one state to another.
   • At that time every emigrant who was made aware of such a notification submitted his application for option to the British Consuls within the period prescribed.1928, Appeal to the Noble English Nation by the Committee of the Defenders of the Rights of Palestinian Arab Emigrants to the Palestinian Citizenship, page 10

See all 6 meanings of option