1
: the act of intentionally relinquishing or abandoning a known right, claim, or privilege
also
: the legal instrument evidencing such an act
2
: the act of a club's waiving the right to claim a professional ball player who is being removed from another club's roster
—often used in the phrase on waivers denoting the process by which a player to be removed from a roster is made available to other clubs
Examples of waiver in a Sentence
a criminal defendant's waiver of a jury trial
The college got a special waiver from the town to exceed the building height limit.
He signed an insurance waiver before surgery.
Recent Examples on the Web
The filing also disclosed compliance with financial covenants and a waiver obtained from Ginnie Mae regarding tangible net worth requirements.
—
Quartz Intelligence Newsroom, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2025
Growth also was greater for students reporting eligibility for a Common App fee waiver, which increased at more than four times the rate of students not reporting fee waiver eligibility (9% vs. 2%).
—Michael T. Nietzel, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
Cubans and Venezuelans, in particular, might sue due to the absence of waivers, arguing that their foreign relatives are suffering the consequences of the ban, said David Weinstein, a former Miami-Dade state and federal prosecutor.
—Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 14 Mar. 2025
Three of the names ProPublica is adding to our tracker are engineers from Musk’s SpaceX who have been issued ethics waivers by Trump administration lawyers to do work that could potentially benefit one of Musk’s companies.
—Christopher Bing, ProPublica, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for waiver
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Quartz Intelligence Newsroom, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2025
Growth also was greater for students reporting eligibility for a Common App fee waiver, which increased at more than four times the rate of students not reporting fee waiver eligibility (9% vs. 2%).
—Michael T. Nietzel, Forbes, 14 Mar. 2025
Cubans and Venezuelans, in particular, might sue due to the absence of waivers, arguing that their foreign relatives are suffering the consequences of the ban, said David Weinstein, a former Miami-Dade state and federal prosecutor.
—Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald, 14 Mar. 2025
Three of the names ProPublica is adding to our tracker are engineers from Musk’s SpaceX who have been issued ethics waivers by Trump administration lawyers to do work that could potentially benefit one of Musk’s companies.
—Christopher Bing, ProPublica, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for waiver
Articles Related to waiver
Cite this Entry
“Waiver.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/waiver. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
waiver
noun
waiv·er
ˈwā-vər 
1
: the act of intentionally giving up a right, claim, or privilege
2
: a document containing a declaration of a waiver
Legal Definition
waiver
noun
waiv·er
ˈwā-vər
: the act of intentionally or knowingly relinquishing or abandoning a known right, claim, or privilege
also
: the legal instrument evidencing such an act compare estoppel, forfeiture
Note: Acts or statements made while forming or carrying out a contract may constitute a waiver and prevent a party from enforcing a contractual right (as when an insurer is barred from disclaiming liability because of facts known to it when it issued the insurance policy). Varying standards are applied by courts to determine if there has been a waiver of various constitutional rights (such as the right to counsel) in criminal cases.
Etymology
Anglo-French, from waiver to waive
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share