To capitulate means to stop resisting and give in, usually by surrendering or reluctantly accepting someone else’s demands.

Core meaning (in plain English)

  • Basic idea: to surrender or yield after pressure, struggle, or negotiation.
  • It can be:
    • Military: an army or city surrenders to an enemy.
* Everyday life: a person finally **gives in** after resisting for a while (like agreeing to something you didn’t want to do).

You can think of it as the more formal cousin of “give in” or “cave in.”

Short examples

  • “After weeks of negotiations, the company capitulated to the workers’ demands.”
  • “The city capitulated after days of heavy bombardment.”
  • “He said no at first, but after enough persuasion, he finally capitulated and agreed.”

In all of these, someone was resisting at first, then stopped resisting and accepted the other side’s terms.

Extra nuance

  • Often suggests reluctant or strategic surrender: not happily agreeing, but deciding resistance isn’t worth it anymore.
  • Frequently used in news, politics, and business writing to describe one side backing down.

TL;DR:
“Capitulate” = to surrender or to finally give in after resisting.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.