Word.ws English Dictionary

raise the white flag

raise the white flag is the alternative form of wave the white flag.

Meaning of wave the white flag

Verb

wave the white flag (third-person singular simple present waves the white flag, present participle waving the white flag, simple past and past participle waved the white flag)

  1. To indicate to an opposing force that one is surrendering.
    • Then it was seen how perilous was the situation of the Boer snipers. . . . There was no escape for them save across the open. It says much for their courage that they took that perilous choice rather than wave the white flag, which would have ensured their safety.1900, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 30, in The Great Boer War
    Synonyms:
    capitulate
  2. (figuratively) To yield, give up, or quit.
    • I started in with a fine left-hander on his right eye. Liverpool had been a fighter once, but dissipation and bad company had taken the nerve out of him. In ten minutes I had him lying on the sand waving the white flag.1911, O Henry, “The Day We Celebrate”, in Sixes and Sevens
    Synonyms:
    capitulate

Forms of raise the white flag

third-person singular presentraises the white flag
present participleraising the white flag
past participleraised the white flag
pastraised the white flag

Questions about raise the white flag

What is raise the white flag the alternative form of?
Raise the white flag is the alternative form of wave the white flag.

Words near raise the white flag in the dictionary

  1. raise the line
  2. raise the roof
  3. raise the specter
  4. raise the spectre
  5. raise the stakes
  6. raise the white flag
  7. raise the wind
  8. raise to the ermine
  9. raise to the purple
  10. raise unshirted hell
  11. raise up

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: raise the white flag (page history and authors); wave the white flag (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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