submission

submission — noun

1. when you send a piece of writing, a plan, or an official form to a person or bod

1.nounB2
Definition

when you send a piece of writing, a plan, or an official form to a person or body with the power to examine it and reach a decision; also the item that you send

Example

Takeshi's submission of his research paper was two days before the deadline.

The journal received over two hundred submissions for its poetry competition.

countable: 'two hundred submissions' refers to the documents

Common collocations
  • submission deadline
  • submission guidelines
  • submission process
  • submission of documents
  • late submission
  • online submission
Synonyms
  • proposal

    more specific to planned actions or business deals; a submission can be any type of document

  • application

    limited to requests for jobs, permits, or admission; narrower scope than submission

  • entry

    used for competitions; implies the document is one among many

Grammar Patterns

submission + of + something

submission + to + somebody/something

Usage Note

Frequently paired with 'of' to name the thing being sent (submission of a report) and 'to' to name the recipient (submission to the committee). When used as a countable noun (five submissions), it refers to the documents themselves rather than the act.

Common Mistakes

I made a submission to the contest' (when describing your own action in casual speech).
I submitted an entry to the contest.
The verb 'submit' is more natural than the noun when you are the person sending something.

2. when you stop resisting and accept that someone else has the right to control or

2.nounB2
Definition

when you stop resisting and accept that someone else has the right to control or defeat you, often following a conflict or by choice

Example

The general demanded the enemy's complete submission after the battle.

demand + [possessive] + submission — formal register

Jiwoo was taught that submission to her parents was a sign of respect.

Common collocations
  • complete submission
  • total submission
  • forced into submission
  • demand submission
  • beat into submission
  • in submission
Synonyms
  • surrender

    more dramatic, often implies giving up after a fight or conflict

  • compliance

    more neutral, focuses on following rules rather than yielding power

  • obedience

    more personal and hierarchical, suggesting a relationship of authority

  • yielding

    more formal or literary; less common in everyday speech

Antonyms
  • resistance

    the act of opposing or fighting against authority

  • rebellion

    more active and organized opposition

Grammar Patterns

submission + to + somebody/something

force/demand/beat + into + submission

Usage Note

Often occurs in verb + into + submission constructions (force/beat/bring someone into submission), which express the idea of compelling someone to yield. Distinguish from sense 1 (SUBMITTING WORK): in this sense, submission is always uncountable and describes a power relationship.

Common Mistakes

I made a submission to my boss' (ambiguous — could mean a document).
I submitted to my boss's decision.
Use the phrasal verb 'submit to' when describing yielding to authority; the noun 'submission' for surrender is less common in everyday workplace speech.

Word family

  • submit
    verbB2
  • submissive
    adjectiveC1
  • submissively
    adverbC1
  • submissiveness
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

All four relate to accepting someone else's authority, but they differ in register and connotation. Surrender implies giving up after a struggle or conflict, often in a military or competitive setting. Compliance suggests following rules or requests without necessarily agreeing — think bureaucratic contexts or regulations. Obedience is more personal and hierarchical, typically used for relationships (parent-child, teacher-student) or religious contexts. Yielding is the least common in everyday speech and has a more formal or literary tone — closer to 'giving way' than total capitulation. Submission sits between surrender and compliance: it can involve force (a general demanding surrender) or voluntary acceptance (respectful submission to tradition). In practice, a defeated army surrenders; a patient complies with a doctor's orders; a child obeys a parent; a storm finally yields to calm weather.

surrender ↗compliance ↗obedience ↗yielding

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • in submission
  • force into submission
  • demand submission

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

Submission comes from Latin 'submissio', meaning 'a letting down' or 'lowering', formed from 'sub-' (under) and 'mittere' (to send). It passed through Old French 'submission' before entering Middle English in the 1300s. The oldest meaning in English was about humbling oneself or yielding to authority. From the 1600s onward, it also took on the sense of presenting documents for judgment or consideration — a meaning that now dominates in academic and professional contexts.