From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcapitulateca‧pit‧u‧late /kəˈpɪtʃəleɪt/ verb [intransitive] 1 ACCEPT formal to accept or agree to something that you have been opposing for a long time SYN give in Helen finally capitulated and let her son have a car.2 formalLOSE A GAME, COMPETITION, OR WAR to accept defeat by your enemies in a war SYN surrender —capitulation /kəˌpɪtʃəˈleɪʃən/ noun [countable, uncountable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
capitulate• Changes in the law and the social security system force everyone, female, male, old, young, to capitulate.• In June 1176 Richard laid siege to Limoges; after a few days resistance Aimar's citadel capitulated.• So I suppose we are capitulating.• It was the first and last time that management capitulated in the face of a departing mortgage trader.• When Wittikind and his warriors capitulated, the revolt began to collapse.• On July 11, the police appeared to capitulate to unionist demands.• And, eventually, Pirenne capitulated with ill grace.Origin capitulate (1600-1700) Medieval Latin past participle of capitulare “to divide up into named parts”, from Late Latin capitulum ( → CHAPTER); from the making of a peace agreement with several parts 