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submission

noun
Saysuhb-MISH-uhn/səbˈmɪʃən/

Pluralsubmissions

5 meanings of submission

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  1. 1
    nouncountable or uncountable
    The act of sending in or handing over a completed piece of work, such as an application or assignment.

    Submission of the grant proposal must happen before midnight on Friday.

    Her submission of the final draft completed the project ahead of schedule.

    Similarfiling, delivery, presentation, lodging, tendering

    Oppositewithdrawal

  2. 2
    nouncountable or uncountable
    The act of yielding to a stronger force or authority; surrender.

    The general demanded the enemy's total submission before agreeing to talks.

    Years of harsh treatment had beaten the prisoners into submission.

    Similarsurrender, capitulation, acquiescence, compliance, obedience

    Oppositeresistance, defiance, rebellion, disobedience

  3. 3
    nouncountable or uncountable
    Something that has been sent in or handed over, such as a finished document or contest entry.

    Every submission must include a cover letter and a short biography.

    The committee rejected his submission for ignoring the formatting rules.

    Similarentry, application, proposal, manuscript, contribution

    Note

    The document itself rather than the handing over: where the act of handing in names the event, this names what arrives. It takes to before whoever receives it, as in Christof Heyns's submission to the UN in Ed Pilkington's 2013 report. It counts freely, so submissions can be received, read, judged and rejected. A useful test: if you can hold it, it is this meaning.

  4. 4
    nouncountable or uncountable
    A hold used in wrestling, mixed martial arts, or other combat sports that forces an opponent to yield or give up.

    The fighter locked in a submission that ended the bout within seconds.

    Coaches drill each submission until the technique becomes automatic.

    Similarhold, lock

    Note

    Combat sports named the hold after what it is meant to produce: the act of yielding, an opponent giving up the bout. Joint locks and chokeholds are the usual kinds. Because a submission is a technique, fighters know, drill and lock in submissions, and they set them up from a position. Eddie Bravo, in Jiu-jitsu Unleashed (2005), faults a fighter who knew no submissions off the overhooks.

  5. 5
    SaySUB-mish-uhn/ˈsʌbˌmɪʃən/
    nouncountable
    A smaller part or component that makes up a larger mission.

    Planners divided the operation into several submissions, each with clear goals.

    Under each mission in the operations order, the planners listed every submission that had to be completed before the main objective could be reached.

    Similarsubtask, task, phase, objective

    Note

    A separate word that only shares the spelling. It was built in English from sub- and mission, while the other meanings came through French from Latin submissio. It belongs to military and operational planning and travels with mission itself: James J. Cooke's The All-Americans at War (1999) speaks of "missions and submissions" vital to a division. Because the familiar meanings dominate, name the larger mission so readers do not hear "handing in."

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Origins

Meanings 1–4

From Middle English "submissioun", borrowed from Old French "soubmission", from Latin "submissio", which derives from the verb "submitto".

Meaning 5

Formed from the prefix "sub-" plus "mission".