FORFEIT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does forfeit mean? 

• FORFEIT (noun)
  The noun FORFEIT has 3 senses:

1. something that is lost or surrendered as a penalty

2. a penalty for a fault or mistake that involves losing or giving up something

3. the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc.

  Familiarity information: FORFEIT used as a noun is uncommon.

• FORFEIT (adjective)
  The adjective FORFEIT has 1 sense:

1. surrendered as a penalty

  Familiarity information: FORFEIT used as an adjective is very rare.

• FORFEIT (verb)
  The verb FORFEIT has 1 sense:

1. lose (s.th.) or lose the right to (s.th.) by some error, offense, or crime

  Familiarity information: FORFEIT used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FORFEIT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something that is lost or surrendered as a penalty

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

forfeit; forfeiture

Hypernyms ("forfeit" is a kind of...):

loss (something that is lost)

Derivation:

forfeit (lose (s.th.) or lose the right to (s.th.) by some error, offense, or crime)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A penalty for a fault or mistake that involves losing or giving up something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

forfeit; forfeiture

Context example:

the contract specified forfeits if the work was not completed on time

Hypernyms ("forfeit" is a kind of...):

penalty (a payment required for not fulfilling a contract)

Derivation:

forfeit (lose (s.th.) or lose the right to (s.th.) by some error, offense, or crime)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

forfeit; forfeiture; sacrifice

Hypernyms ("forfeit" is a kind of...):

act; deed; human action; human activity (something that people do or cause to happen)

Derivation:

forfeit (lose (s.th.) or lose the right to (s.th.) by some error, offense, or crime)

• FORFEIT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Surrendered as a penalty

Synonyms:

confiscate; forfeit; forfeited

Similar:

lost (not gained or won)

• FORFEIT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they forfeit    ... he / she / it forfeits   
Past simple: forfeited   
Past participle: forfeited   
-ing form: forfeiting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lose (s.th.) or lose the right to (s.th.) by some error, offense, or crime

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

forego; forfeit; forgo; give up; throw overboard; waive

Context example:

forfeited property

Hypernyms (to "forfeit" is one way to...):

abandon (forsake, leave behind)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "forfeit"):

lapse (let slip)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

claim (demand as being one's due or property; assert one's right or title to)

Derivation:

forfeit (the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc.)

forfeit (a penalty for a fault or mistake that involves losing or giving up something)

forfeit (something that is lost or surrendered as a penalty)

forfeiture (the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc.)

forfeiture (a penalty for a fault or mistake that involves losing or giving up something)

forfeiture (something that is lost or surrendered as a penalty)

 Context examples 

Ah! What's that game at forfeits?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

"You've forfeited your rights to own that dog," was the rejoinder.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I shall claim forfeit if you don’t come to scratch.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Forfeit, my good Mr. Malone, I claim forfeit!

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He paid her only the compliment of attention; and she felt a respect for him on the occasion, which the others had reasonably forfeited by their shameless want of taste.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Before Emma had forfeited her confidence, and about the third time of their meeting, she heard all Mrs. Elton's knight-errantry on the subject.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

My father's opinion of me does me the greatest honour, and I should be miserable to forfeit it.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

You see that even a villain and murderer can inspire such affection that his brother turns to suicide when he learns that his neck is forfeited.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole position forever.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A mist dispersed; I saw my life to be forfeit; and fled from the scene of these excesses, at once glorying and trembling, my lust of evil gratified and stimulated, my love of life screwed to the topmost peg.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)