From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishultimatumul‧ti‧ma‧tum /ˌʌltəˈmeɪtəm/ ●○○ noun (plural ultimatums or ultimata /-tə/) [countable] THREATENa threat saying that if someone does not do what you want by a particular time, you will do something to punish them The club gave him an ultimatum - either he apologized, or he would be expelled from the team. The army issued an ultimatum for all weapons in the city to be surrendered by October 26th.COLLOCATIONSverbsgive somebody an ultimatumMy boss gave me an ultimatum: get better results or find another job.issue/deliver an ultimatum (=officially give someone an ultimatum)The authorities issued an ultimatum to the students to end their protest or face arrest.present somebody with an ultimatumIraq was presented with an ultimatum by the UN to cease the invasion of Kuwait.receive an ultimatumWe received an ultimatum from the army demanding our surrender.phrasesthe terms of an ultimatumThe terms of the ultimatum required them to withdraw by noon.
Examples from the Corpus
ultimatum• It was not so much a letter, as an ultimatum.• He was given an ultimatum by Murphy to prove his fitness by Friday but went well in training on Monday.• The State Council gave the armed groups an ultimatum to lay down their arms by March 30 and to open transport routes.• She's ignored all my previous warnings about being late for work, so I've decided to give her an ultimatum.• This is an ultimatum that Steadman is ready to meet.• The hijackers have issued an ultimatum -- either the government releases the prisoners or the plane will be blown up.• The upshot of the visit was the withdrawal of the Berlin ultimatum in favour of a conference.• Morliere, anxious to avert an explosion, reassured Valluy that the ultimatum was unnecessary, since hostilities had stopped.• Fifteen blacks were called in and given this ultimatum.Origin ultimatum (1700-1800) Modern Latin Late Latin ultimatus; → ULTIMATE1 