warrant Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a writ from a court commanding police to perform specified acts
  2. noun a type of security issued by a corporation (usually together with a bond or preferred stock) that gives the holder the right to purchase a certain amount of common stock at a stated price
    stock warrant; stock-purchase warrant.
    • as a sweetener they offered warrants along with the fixed-income securities
  3. noun formal and explicit approval
    sanction; indorsement; countenance; endorsement; imprimatur.
    • a Democrat usually gets the union's endorsement
  4. noun a written assurance that some product or service will be provided or will meet certain specifications
    warrantee; warranty; guarantee.
  5. verb show to be reasonable or provide adequate ground for
    justify.
    • The emergency does not warrant all of us buying guns
    • The end justifies the means
  6. verb stand behind and guarantee the quality, accuracy, or condition of
    guarantee.
    • The dealer warrants all the cars he sells
    • I warrant this information

WordNet

War"rant noun
Etymology
OE. warant, OF. warant a warrant, a defender, protector, F. garant, originally a p. pr. pf German origin, fr. OHG. weren to grant, warrant, G. gewähren; akin to OFries. wera. Cf. Guarantee.
Definitions
  1. That which warrants or authorizes; a commission giving authority, or justifying the doing of anything; an act, instrument, or obligation, by which one person authorizes another to do something which he has not otherwise a right to do; an act or instrument investing one with a right or authority, and thus securing him from loss or damage; commission; authority. Specifically: -- (a) A writing which authorizes a person to receive money or other thing. (b) (Law) A precept issued by a magistrate authorizing an officer to make an arrest, a seizure, or a search, or do other acts incident to the administration of justice. (c) (Mil. & Nav.) An official certificate of appointment issued to an officer of lower rank than a commissioned officer. See Warrant officer, below.
  2. That which vouches or insures for anything; guaranty; security.
    I give thee warrant of thy place. Shak.
    His worth is warrant for his welcome hither. Shak.
  3. That which attests or proves; a voucher.
  4. Right; legality; allowance. Obs. Shak.
War"rant transitive verb
Etymology
OE. waranten, OF. warantir, garantir, guarantir, garentir, garandir, F. garantir to warrant, fr. OF. warant, garant, guarant, a warrant, a protector, a defender, F. garant. See Warrant, n.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Warranted; present participle & verbal noun Warranting
Definitions
  1. To make secure; to give assurance against harm; to guarantee safety to; to give authority or power to do, or forbear to do, anything by which the person authorized is secured, or saved harmless, from any loss or damage by his action.
    That show I first my body to warrant. Chaucer.
    I'll warrant him from drowning. Shak.
    In a place Less warranted than this, or less secure, I can not be. Milton.
  2. To support by authority or proof; to justify; to maintain; to sanction; as, reason warrants it.
    True fortitude is seen in great exploits, That justice warrants, and that wisdom guides. Addison.
    How little while it is since he went forth out of his study, -- chewing a Hebrew text of Scripture in his mouth, I warrant. Hawthorne.
  3. To give a warrant or warranty to; to assure as if by giving a warrant to.
    [My neck is] as smooth as silk, I warrant ye. L' Estrange.
  4. (Law) (a) To secure to, as a grantee, an estate granted; to assure. (b) To secure to, as a purchaser of goods, the title to the same; to indemnify against loss. (c) To secure to, as a purchaser, the quality or quantity of the goods sold, as represented. See Warranty, n., 2. (d) To assure, as a thing sold, to the purchaser; that is, to engage that the thing is what it appears, or is represented, to be, which implies a covenant to make good any defect or loss incurred by it.

Webster 1913