Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Latin
Origin: admittere, from ad- 'to' + mittere 'to send'

admit

 verb
     
ad‧mit S2 W1 past tense and past participle admitted, present participle admitting
1

accept truth

[intransitive and transitive] to agree unwillingly that something is true or that someone else is right:
'Okay, so maybe I was a little bit scared,' Jenny admitted.
admit (that)
You may not like her, but you have to admit that she's good at her job.
admit to somebody (that)
Paul admitted to me that he sometimes feels jealous of my friendship with Stanley.
I must admit, I didn't actually do anything to help her.
Admit it! I'm right, aren't I?
admit (to) doing something
Dana admitted feeling hurt by what I had said.
freely/openly/frankly etc admit (=admit without being ashamed)
Phillips openly admits to having an alcohol problem.
2

accept blame

[intransitive and transitive] to say that you have done something wrong, especially something criminal [= confess; ≠ deny]
admit doing something
Greene admitted causing death by reckless driving.
admit to (doing) something
A quarter of all workers admit to taking time off when they are not ill.
After questioning, he admitted to the murder.
No organization has admitted responsibility for the bombing.
3

allow to enter

[transitive] to allow someone to enter a public place to watch a game, performance etc [↪ admittance, admission]
admit somebody to/into something
Only ticket-holders will be admitted into the stadium.
4

allow to join

[transitive] to allow someone to join an organization, club etc
admit somebody to/into something
Drake was admitted into the club in 1997.
5

hospital

[transitive] if people at a hospital admit someone, that person is taken in to be given treatment, tests, or care:
What time was she admitted?
be admitted to hospital British English /be admitted to the hospital American English
6

admit defeat

to stop trying to do something because you realize you cannot succeed:
For Haskill, selling the restaurant would be admitting defeat.
7

admit evidence

to allow a particular piece of evidence to be used in a court of law:
Courts can refuse to admit evidence obtained illegally by police.

admit of something

phrasal verb
if a situation admits of a particular explanation, that explanation can be accepted as possible:
The facts admit of no other explanation.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
 
Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

ADVERTISING AND MARKETINGANIMALSBANKING
BIOLOGYBUSINESS BASICSCOMPUTERS
CLOTHESDAILY LIFEEDUCATION
FINANCEFOODGRAMMAR
HAIR AND BEAUTYHUMANLAW
MUSICNATURESPORT
STOCKS AND SHARESTECHNOLOGYTRADE