ve•to
Pronunciation: (vē'tō), [key]
— n., pl. v., -toes, -toed, -to•ing.
—n.
- the power or right vested in one branch of a government to cancel or postpone the decisions, enactments, etc., of another branch, esp. the right of a president, governor, or other chief executive to reject bills passed by the legislature.
- the exercise of this right.
- Also calleda document exercising such right and setting forth the reasons for such action.
- a nonconcurring vote by which one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council can overrule the actions or decisions of the meeting on matters other than procedural.
- an emphatic prohibition of any sort.
- See
—v.t.
- to reject (a proposed bill or enactment) by exercising a veto.
- to prohibit emphatically. Also called
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.