abdicate

Word family

Related topics: Sociology

ab·di·cate /ˈæbdɪkeɪt/ verb [intransitiveI, transitiveT]

1 SSto give up the position of being king or queen 放弃〔王位〕；退（位），让（位）

King Alfonso XIII abdicated in favour of his eldest son.

国王阿方索十三世把王位让给了长子。

The king was forced to abdicate the throne.

国王被迫退位。

2 abdicate (your) responsibility formalRESPONSIBLE to refuse to be responsible for something, when you should be or were before 推卸责任，放弃责任

The government has largely abdicated its responsibility in dealing with housing needs.

政府在很大程度上推卸了解决住房需求的责任。

Examples from the Corpus

abdicate (your) responsibility• By invoking testosterone a man can abdicate responsibility for his own behaviour.

—abdication /ˌæbdɪˈkeɪʃən/ noun [countableC, uncountableU]

Examples from the Corpus

abdicate• By the end of the year he had abdicated.• President Kennedy assured Wallace that federal troops would be used only if the state abdicated its responsibilities.• Opponents also cite the city government as an example of where elected officials have abdicated their power to the appointed staff.• This is not a reason why district ethics committees should yield to pressure to abdicate their responsibilities to local citizens.• When governments abdicate this steering responsibility, disaster often follows.• Edward reportedly surrendered and abdicated, whereupon the estates renounced their homage to him and then returned to inform parliament.

Origin abdicate

(1500-1600) Latin past participle of abdicare, from ab- “away, off” + dicare “to say publicly”

Chinese

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