6 VERB If an organization or person accepts you, you are allowed to join the organization or use the services that are offered. □ [be V -ed] All-male groups will not be accepted. □ [V n + as ] …incentives to private landlords to accept young people as tenants. [Also V n into n]
7 VERB If a person or a group of people accepts you, they begin to be friendly towards you and are happy with who you are or what you do. □ [V n] My grandparents have never had a problem accepting me. □ [V n + as ] Many men still have difficulty accepting a woman as a business partner. □ [be V -ed + into ] Stephen Smith was accepted into the family like an adopted brother.
8 VERB If you accept the responsibility or blame for something, you recognize that you are responsible for it. □ [V n] The company cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage.
9 VERB If you accept someone's advice or suggestion, you agree to do what they say. □ [V n] The army refused to accept orders from the political leadership.
10 VERB If a machine accepts a particular kind of thing, it is designed to take it and deal with it or process it. □ [V n] The telephone booths accept 10 and 20 pence coins.
11 → see also accepted SYNONYMS accept VERB
1
take: When I took the job, I thought I could change the system.
take on: Don't take on more responsibilities than you can handle.
undertake: She undertook the very difficult task of monitoring the elections.
2
acknowledge: Belatedly, the government has acknowledged the problem.
admit: I am willing to admit that I do make mistakes.
allow: Warren allows that the policy may sometimes result in increased social inequality.
4
take: Harry's rudeness to everyone was becoming hard to take.
stand: Stoddart can stand any amount of personal criticism.
put up with: They had put up with terrible behaviour from their son.
tolerate: She can no longer tolerate the position that she's in.
bear: They will have to bear the misery of living in constant fear of war. USAGE accept
Don’t say that you ‘
ac|cept|able ◆◇◇ /ækse ptəb ə l/
1 ADJ Acceptable activities and situations are those that most people approve of or consider to be normal. □ [+ for ] Is it acceptable for fans to boo their own side? □ The air pollution exceeds most acceptable levels by 10 times or more. ● ac|cept|abil|ity /ækse ptəb I l I ti/ N‑UNCOUNT □ [+ of ] …a greater acceptability of other accents. ● ac|cept|ably /ækse ptəbli/ ADV □ The aim of discipline is to teach children to behave acceptably.
2 ADJ If something is acceptable to someone, they agree to consider it, use it, or allow it to happen. □ [+ to ] They are working together to produce a plan that will be acceptable to all of them. □ They recently failed to negotiate a mutually acceptable new contract.
3 ADJ If you describe something as acceptable , you mean that it is good enough or fairly good. □ On the far side of the street was a restaurant that looked acceptable. ● ac|cept|ably ADV [ADV adj, ADV with v] □ …a method that provides an acceptably accurate solution to a problem. SYNONYMS acceptable ADJ 3
all right: 'How was school?'—'It was all right.'
satisfactory: Neither solution seemed satisfactory.
fine: The skiing is fine.
adequate: The western diet should be perfectly adequate for most people.
passable: She speaks passable French.
ac|cept|ance /ækse ptəns/ (acceptances )
1 N‑VAR [oft poss N ] Acceptance of an offer or a proposal is the act of saying yes to it or agreeing to it. □ [+ of ] The Party is being degraded by its acceptance of secret donations. □ …a letter of acceptance. □ …his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize.
2 N‑UNCOUNT If there is acceptance of an idea, most people believe or agree that it is true. □ …a theory that is steadily gaining acceptance. □ There was a general acceptance that the defence budget would shrink.
3 N‑UNCOUNT Your acceptance of a situation, especially an unpleasant or difficult one, is an attitude or feeling that you cannot change it and that you must get used to it. □ [+ of ] …his calm acceptance of whatever comes his way.
4 N‑UNCOUNT Acceptance of someone into a group means beginning to think of them as part of the group and to act in a friendly way towards them. □ …an effort to ensure that people with disabilities achieve real acceptance.
ac|cept|ed ◆◆◇ /ækse pt I d/
1 ADJ [oft adv ADJ ] Accepted ideas are agreed by most people to be correct or reasonable. □ There is no generally accepted definition of life. □ It is accepted wisdom that science has been partly responsible for the decline of religion.