How to use capitulate in a sentence

12 example sentences · verb, adjective

Capitulate means to surrender on stipulated terms, end all resistance, give up, go along with or comply. Example: “He argued and hollered for so long that I finally capitulated just to make him stop.”

Examples of capitulate by meaning

verbTo surrender on stipulated terms, end all resistance, give up, go along with or comply.

He argued and hollered for so long that I finally capitulated just to make him stop.
I’d capitulate tomorrow.1957 November 14, Sputnik [pseudonym], “My Son Hates School”, in Daily Record, number 19,357, Glasgow: Scottish Daily Record and Sunday...
The CCP has refused to capitulate to Trump’s demands to come to the table and renegotiate their terms of trade.2025 April 16, Helen Davidson, “Chinese state media tells Trump to ‘stop whining’ as trade war spirals”, in the Guardian

adjectiveHaving or forming a capitulum.

The aggregation of flowers into capitulate inflorescences is a character directly advantageous from the aspect of the biological function of cross-pollination.1912, New Phytologist

More sentences with capitulate

When captain Kolisi was sin-binned for a high tackle, the Boks could've easily capitulated.2023 October 28, Leighton Koopman, “YES!!! The Springboks beat the All Blacks to win another Rugby World Cup title”, in Independent Online. From the entry high tackle
We cannot capitulate, but must use it to change the world.1980 August 16, Michael Bronski, “Does Life Incriminate Art?”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 5, page 11. From the entry outsideness
That threat is from counter-terror, from ministers capitulating to securocrats.2012 December 14, Simon Jenkins, “We mustn't overreact to North Korea boys' toys”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 2, page 23. From the entry bill
Was she capitulating toa base instinct for power?2011, Roger Herst, Rabbi Gabrielle's Defiance. From the entry Potomac fever
Salemi, a high-ranking member of the Agrigento Mafia, insisted that Violi recognize Cuffaro, but the self - styled padrone of Saint- Léonard would not capitulate.2011, Andre Cedilot, Andre Noel, Mafia Inc.: The Long, Bloody Reign of Canada's Sicilian Clan, page 97. From the entry padrone
After the Muslims or Croats capitulated, the special forces, the "dreaded paramilitary groups," entered the town and "ethnically cleansed" it of Croats or Muslims.1999, Howard Ball, Prosecuting War Crimes and Genocide, The Twentieth-century Experience, page 128. From the entry ethnically cleanse
It was Big Business with its fear of femininity, it was the eunuchoid clergy capitulating to vulgar masculinity that made religion and art sissy things.1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 26. From the entry eunuchoid
A ceasefire and a Landsgemeinde were called and the citizens of Schwyz met to decide en masse whether to capitulate and to accept the Helvetic republic.2011, Marc Lemer, A Laboratory of Liberty, page 128. From the entry Landsgemeinde

Meaning of capitulate

verb To surrender on stipulated terms, end all resistance, give up, go along with or comply.
verb To draw up in chapters, heads or articles; to enumerate, specify.
verb To draw up articles of agreement with; to propose terms, treat, bargain, parley.

Full definition of capitulate

Questions about capitulate in a sentence

How do you use capitulate in a sentence?: Capitulate is used as a verb and adjective. For example: “He argued and hollered for so long that I finally capitulated just to make him stop.”
What is a short sentence with capitulate?: “I’d capitulate tomorrow.”
What does capitulate mean?: Capitulate means to surrender on stipulated terms, end all resistance, give up, go along with or comply.

Adapted from Wiktionary: capitulate (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use capitulate in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/capitulate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.