n.
- A warning or caution: "A final caveat: Most experts feel that clients get unsatisfactory results when they don't specify clearly what they want" (Savvy).
- A qualification or explanation.
- Law. A formal notice filed by an interested party with a court or officer, requesting the postponement of a proceeding until the filer is heard.
v., -at·ed, or -at·ted, -at·ing, or -at·ting, -ats, or -ats. v.intr. Law
To enter a caveat.
v.tr. Informal
To qualify with a warning or clarification: The spokesperson caveated the statement with a reminder that certain facts were still unknown.
[From Latin, let him beware, third person sing. present subjunctive of cavēre, to beware.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
