wave the white flag
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To surrender or admit defeat
Literally: signal of truce
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company waved the white flag after failing to compete with its rivals
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “wave the white flag” mean?
To surrender or admit defeat Literally: signal of truce
Is “wave the white flag” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.