The AI-powered English dictionary
plural mandates
An official or authoritative command; an order or injunction; a commission; a judicial precept; an authorization. quotations examples
Instead, May, more sheep than shepherd, has feebly allowed herself to be driven ever further towards an extreme, inflexible, take-it-or-leave-it stance for which she has neither mandate nor credible grounds.
2017 March 27, “The Observer view on triggering article 50”, in The Observer
(politics) The order or authority to do something, as granted to a politician by the electorate. quotations examples
John Tyler and James K. Polk both regarded the election results as a mandate for the annexation of Texas.
2002, Leroy G. Dorsey, The Presidency and Rhetorical Leadership, Texas A&M University Press, page 30
(Canada) A period during which a government is in power. quotations examples
Throughout his last mandate, from 1980 to 1984, Mr. Trudeau insisted that we see ourselves solely as Canadians, that we set aside the historic compromises that underlie Canada as a federation.
2000 October 6, John Richards, “Pierre Elliott Trudeau: 1919-2000”, in The Globe and Mail, archived from the original on 9 October 2019
(historical) An order by the League of Nations to a member nation to establish a government responsible for a conquered territory, as the colonies of Germany after World War I.
(historical) Such a territory.
third-person singular simple present mandates, present participle mandating, simple past and past participle mandated
(Discuss(+) this sense) To authorize. examples
To make mandatory. examples
(uncommon) Alternative form of man date: a date between two men. quotations examples
Moss: Oh, he's long gone, although Roy's got a mandate with him.Roy: It is not a mandate. I am not a man-woman. We are not married. I am not your wife!
2007 September 7, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 2, Episode 3