grant

1 of 2

verb

granted; granting; grants

transitive verb

1
a
: to consent to carry out for a person : allow fulfillment of
grant a request
b
: to permit as a right, privilege, or favor
luggage allowances granted to passengers
2
: to bestow or transfer formally
grant a scholarship to a student
specifically : to give the possession or title of by a deed
3
a
: to be willing to concede
I grant you that the house is not in perfect condition.
b
: to assume to be true
granting that you are correct
grantable adjective
granter noun
grantor noun

see also take for granted

grant

2 of 2

noun

1
: the act of granting
2
: something granted
especially : a gift (as of land or money) for a particular purpose
3
a
: a transfer of property by deed or writing
b
: the instrument (see instrument entry 1 sense 5) by which such a transfer is made
also : the property so transferred
4
: a minor territorial division of Maine, New Hampshire, or Vermont originally granted by the state to an individual or institution
Choose the Right Synonym for grant

grant, concede, vouchsafe, accord, award mean to give as a favor or a right.

grant implies giving to a claimant or petitioner something that could be withheld.

granted them a new hearing

concede implies yielding something reluctantly in response to a rightful or compelling claim.

even her critics concede she can be charming

vouchsafe implies granting something as a courtesy or an act of gracious condescension.

vouchsafed the secret to only a few chosen disciples

accord implies giving to another what is due or proper.

accorded all the honors befitting a head of state

award implies giving what is deserved or merited usually after a careful weighing of pertinent factors.

awarded the company a huge defense contract

Examples of grant in a Sentence

Verb The mayor refused to grant my request for an interview. The court granted the motion for a new trial. I cannot grant you that wish. We haven't yet been granted access to the archive. The country was granted independence in 1950. The judge granted custody of the children to their mother. I grant that he's a talented writer, but I just don't find his books very interesting. The house is not perfect, I grant you that. Noun Her study is being funded by a federal grant. They wrote a grant proposal to get funding for the project.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
In addition, the house provides a two-car garage, granting ample space for parking and storage purposes. Bay Area Home Report, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2024 Tiahrt named after proponent of gun rights The Tiahrt Amendment, first enacted as a rider to appropriations legislation in 2003, grants the ATF one exception to blocking the public disclosure of information from its firearm trace database. Emma Tucker, CNN, 4 Mar. 2024 What's even more puzzling, leadership in the two unions say, is that the board that governs the airport granted airport police and firefighters the right to unionize in 2019, but excluded baggage handlers, bus drivers, maintenance crew, janitorial staff and others. Binghui Huang, The Indianapolis Star, 4 Mar. 2024 At a February 2023 hearing, Silberman granted the new order. Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 4 Mar. 2024 Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, was granted bail and freed from prison in Bangladesh after being named in a $2.3 million embezzlement case and separately being charged with violating labor laws. Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 4 Mar. 2024 But the film was granted a traditional run at the international box office. Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 3 Mar. 2024 In 1961, he was granted a Harvard University fellowship, and studied state-of-the-art transplant procedures at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (now part of Brigham and Women’s Hospital), one of Harvard’s teaching hospitals and where the first kidney transplant took place in 1954. Brian Murphy, Washington Post, 2 Mar. 2024 Courts grant both in order to protect a right or preserve the status quo while a case is pending. Jill Goldenziel, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024
Noun
In a series of grants known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, the federal government gave California schools $23.4 billion to pay for everything from air purifiers to after-school tutoring. Calmatters, The Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2024 California is also giving out $2 billion in grants to build more treatment facilities. Trân Nguyễn, Fortune, 5 Mar. 2024 Aging facilities and crumbling runways weren't being fixed, and federal grants to fix them were expiring. Erin Couch, The Enquirer, 3 Mar. 2024 Opponents say many of those types of short-term programs, even just 15 weeks long, are already eligible for Pell grant funding. Zachary Schermele, USA TODAY, 2 Mar. 2024 All five filmmakers receive a $30,000 film grant to produce their work. Diego Ramos Bechara, Variety, 1 Mar. 2024 Between 1993 and 2023, more than a dozen southern states including Florida, Mississippi and Alabama significantly deprived their HBCUs by more than $13 billion due to their inability to equitably match federal grants for land-grant institutions, according to the Biden administration. C. Isaiah Smalls Ii, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2024 The Biden administration just issued an executive order directing federal health officials to guard against providing contracts and grants to companies, including U.S. firms, that could lead to foreign adversaries getting Americans’ sensitive health data. Meghana Keshavan, STAT, 1 Mar. 2024 Additionally, there are many grants focused on sustainability and environmental efforts. Julio Gonzalez, Forbes, 23 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'grant.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French granter, graanter, from Vulgar Latin *credentare, from Latin credent-, credens, present participle of credere to believe — more at creed

First Known Use

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of grant was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near grant

Cite this Entry

“Grant.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grant. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

grant

1 of 2 verb
1
a
: to consent to : permit
grant your request
b
: to permit as a right, privilege, or favor
granted them a day off for volunteer work
2
: to give the possession or benefit of formally or legally
the king granted land to the settlers
3
: to admit something not yet proved to be true
granted you are right, you must still pay for the damage
granter noun

grant

2 of 2 noun
1
: the act of granting
2
: something granted: as
a
: a gift (as of money or land) for a particular purpose
a research grant
b
: an area of land granted by a government

Legal Definition

grant

1 of 2 transitive verb
1
: to permit as a right or privilege
grant a new trial
the Supreme Court granted certiorari
2
: to bestow or transfer formally
specifically : to transfer the possession or title of by a deed : convey

grant

2 of 2 noun
1
: the act of granting
2
: something granted
especially : a gift (as of land or money) for a particular purpose
3
a
: a transfer of property by deed or writing
b
: the instrument by which such a transfer is made
also : the property so transferred

Biographical Definition

Grant 1 of 2

biographical name (1)

Cary 1904–1986 originally Archibald Alexander Leach American (British-born) actor

Grant

2 of 2

biographical name (2)

Ulysses S. 1822–1885 originally Hiram Ulysses Grant American general; 18th president of the U.S. (1869–77)

More from Merriam-Webster on grant

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!