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To withdraw or repudiate formally and publicly (opinions formerly expressed); to contradict, as a former declaration; to take back openly; to retract; to recall. How soon . . . ease would recant Vows made in pain, as violent and void! Milton.

The formal statement, or setting forth, of some matter of fact in any deed or writing in order to explain the reasons on which the transaction is founded; the statement of matter in pleading introductory to some positive allegation. Burn.

The act of recognizing, or the state of being recognized; acknowledgment; formal avowal; knowledge confessed or avowed; notice. The lives of such saints had, at the time of their yearly memorials, solemn recognition in the church of God. Hooker.

edge of; to allow that one knows; to consent to admit, hold, or the like; to admit with a formal acknowledgment; as, to recognize an obligation; to recognize a consul.

The state or condition of having recoiled. The recoil from formalism is skepticism. F. W. Robertson.

Pertaining to, or characterized by, official formality. See Red tape, under Red, a.

Strict adherence to official formalities. J. C. Shairp.

One who is tenacious of a strict adherence to official formalities. Ld. Lytton.

A written account or entry; an official or formal enumeration, description, or record; a memorial record; a list or roll; a schedule. As you have one eye upon my follies, . . . turn another into the register of your own. Shak.

To declare against; to reject or decline formally; to refuse to own or acknowledge as belonging to one; to disclaim; as, to renounce a title to land or to a throne.

Formal declination to take out letters of administration, or to assume an office, privilege, or right.

Severe or formal reproof; reprehension, private or public. Goldsmith gave his landlady a sharp reprimand for her treatment of him. Macaulay.

A formal demand made by one state or government upon another for the surrender or extradition of a fugitive from justice. Kent.

The answer of an emperor when formallyconsulted by particular persons on some difficult question; hence, an edict or decree. In their rescripts and other ordinances, the Roman emperors spoke in the plural number. Hare.

To sign back; to return by a formal act; to yield to another; to surrender; -- said especially of office or emolument. Hence, to give up; to yield; to submit; -- said of the wishes or will, or of something valued; -- also often used reflexively. I here resign my government to thee. Shak. Lament not, Eve, but patiently…

That which is resolved or determined; a settled purpose; determination. Specifically: A formal expression of the opinion or will of an official body or a public assembly, adopted by vote; as, a legislative resolution; the resolutions of a public meeting.

xpress, as an opinion or determination, by resolution and vote; to declare or decide by a formal vote; -- followed by a clause; as, the house resolved (or, it was resolved by the house) that no money should be apropriated (or, to appropriate no money).

One who resolves, or formal a firm purpose.

Reply to an objection in formal disputation. I. Watts.

An account, or formal report, of an action performed, of a duty discharged, of facts or statistics, and the like; as, election returns; a return of the amount of goods produced or sold; especially, in the plural, a set of tabulated statistics prepared for general information.