warrant
    n 1: a writ from a court commanding police to perform specified
         acts
    2: a type of security issued by a corporation (usually together
       with a bond or preferred stock) that gives the holder the
       right to purchase a certain amount of common stock at a
       stated price; "as a sweetener they offered warrants along
       with the fixed-income securities" [syn: warrant, stock
       warrant, stock-purchase warrant]
    3: formal and explicit approval; "a Democrat usually gets the
       union's endorsement" [syn: sanction, countenance,
       endorsement, indorsement, warrant, imprimatur]
    4: a written assurance that some product or service will be
       provided or will meet certain specifications [syn:
       guarantee, warrant, warrantee, warranty]
    v 1: show to be reasonable or provide adequate ground for; "The
         emergency does not warrant all of us buying guns"; "The end
         justifies the means" [syn: justify, warrant]
    2: stand behind and guarantee the quality, accuracy, or
       condition of; "The dealer warrants all the cars he sells"; "I
       warrant this information" [syn: guarantee, warrant]

Warrant \War"rant\, n. [OE. warant, OF. warant a warrant, a
   defender, protector, F. garant, originally a p. pr. pf German
   origin, fr. OHG. wer[=e]n to grant, warrant, G. gew[aum]hren;
   akin to OFries. wera. Cf. Guarantee.]
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   1. That which warrants or authorizes; a commission giving
      authority, or justifying the doing of anything; an act,
      instrument, or obligation, by which one person authorizes
      another to do something which he has not otherwise a right
      to do; an act or instrument investing one with a right or
      authority, and thus securing him from loss or damage;
      commission; authority. Specifically: 
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      (a) A writing which authorizes a person to receive money
          or other thing.
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      (b) (Law) A precept issued by a magistrate authorizing an
          officer to make an arrest, a seizure, or a search, or
          do other acts incident to the administration of
          justice.
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      (c) (Mil. & Nav.) An official certificate of appointment
          issued to an officer of lower rank than a commissioned
          officer. See Warrant officer, below.
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   2. That which vouches or insures for anything; guaranty;
      security.
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            I give thee warrant of thy place.     --Shak.
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            His worth is warrant for his welcome hither. --Shak.
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   3. That which attests or proves; a voucher.
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   4. Right; legality; allowance. [Obs.] --Shak.
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   Bench warrant. (Law) See in the Vocabulary.

   Dock warrant (Com.), a customhouse license or authority.

   General warrant. (Law) See under General.

   Land warrant. See under Land.

   Search warrant. (Law) See under Search, n.

   Warrant of attorney (Law), written authority given by one
      person to another empowering him to transact business for
      him; specifically, written authority given by a client to
      his attorney to appear for him in court, and to suffer
      judgment to pass against him by confession in favor of
      some specified person. --Bouvier.

   Warrant officer, a noncommissioned officer, as a sergeant,
      corporal, bandmaster, etc., in the army, or a
      quartermaster, gunner, boatswain, etc., in the navy.

   Warrant to sue and defend.
      (a) (O. Eng. Law) A special warrant from the crown,
          authorizing a party to appoint an attorney to sue or
          defend for him.
      (b) A special authority given by a party to his attorney
          to commence a suit, or to appear and defend a suit in
          his behalf. This warrant is now disused. --Burrill.
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Warrant \War"rant\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Warranted; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Warranting.] [OE. waranten, OF. warantir, garantir,
   guarantir, garentir, garandir, F. garantir to warrant, fr.
   OF. warant, garant, guarant, a warrant, a protector, a
   defender, F. garant. [root]142. See Warrant, n.]
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   1. To make secure; to give assurance against harm; to
      guarantee safety to; to give authority or power to do, or
      forbear to do, anything by which the person authorized is
      secured, or saved harmless, from any loss or damage by his
      action.
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            That show I first my body to warrant. --Chaucer.
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            I'll warrant him from drowning.       --Shak.
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            In a place
            Less warranted than this, or less secure,
            I can not be.                         --Milton.
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   2. To support by authority or proof; to justify; to maintain;
      to sanction; as, reason warrants it.
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            True fortitude is seen in great exploits,
            That justice warrants, and that wisdom guides.
                                                  --Addison.
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            How little while it is since he went forth out of
            his study, -- chewing a Hebrew text of Scripture in
            his mouth, I warrant.                 --Hawthorne.
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   3. To give a warrant or warranty to; to assure as if by
      giving a warrant to.
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            [My neck is] as smooth as silk, I warrant ye. --L'
                                                  Estrange.
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   4. (Law)
      (a) To secure to, as a grantee, an estate granted; to
          assure.
      (b) To secure to, as a purchaser of goods, the title to
          the same; to indemnify against loss.
      (c) To secure to, as a purchaser, the quality or quantity
          of the goods sold, as represented. See Warranty, n.,
          2.
      (d) To assure, as a thing sold, to the purchaser; that is,
          to engage that the thing is what it appears, or is
          represented, to be, which implies a covenant to make
          good any defect or loss incurred by it.
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Attorney \At*tor"ney\, n.; pl. Attorneys. [OE. aturneye, OF.
   atorn['e], p. p. of atorner: cf. LL. atturnatus, attornatus,
   fr. attornare. See Attorn.]
   1. A substitute; a proxy; an agent. [Obs.]
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            And will have no attorney but myself. --Shak.
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   2. (Law)
      (a) One who is legally appointed by another to transact
          any business for him; an attorney in fact.
      (b) A legal agent qualified to act for suitors and
          defendants in legal proceedings; an attorney at law.
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   Note: An attorney is either public or private. A private
         attorney, or an attorney in fact, is a person appointed
         by another, by a letter or power of attorney, to
         transact any business for him out of court; but in a
         more extended sense, this class includes any agent
         employed in any business, or to do any act in pais, for
         another. A public attorney, or attorney at law, is a
         practitioner in a court of law, legally qualified to
         prosecute and defend actions in such court, on the
         retainer of clients. --Bouvier. -- The attorney at law
         answers to the procurator of the civilians, to the
         solicitor in chancery, and to the proctor in the
         ecclesiastical and admiralty courts, and all of these
         are comprehended under the more general term lawyer. In
         Great Britain and in some states of the United States,
         attorneys are distinguished from counselors in that the
         business of the former is to carry on the practical and
         formal parts of the suit. In many states of the United
         States however, no such distinction exists. In England,
         since 1873, attorneys at law are by statute called
         solicitors.
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   A power, letter, or warrant, of attorney, a written
      authority from one person empowering another to transact
      business for him.
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WARRANT, crim. law, Practice. A writ issued by a justice of the peace or 
other authorized officer, directed to a constable or other proper person, 
requiring him to arrest a person therein named, charged with committing some 
offence, and to bring him before that or some other justice of the peace. 
     2. It should regularly be made under the hand and seal of the justice 
and dated. No warrant ought to be issued except upon the oath or affirmation 
of a witness charging the defendant with, the offence. 3 Binn. Rep. 88. 
     3. The reprehensible practice of issuing blank warrants which once 
prevailed in England, was never adopted here. 2 Russ. on Cr. 512; Ld. Raym. 
546; 1 Salk. 175; 1 H. Bl. R. 13; Doct. Pl. 529; Wood's Inst. 84; Com. Dig. 
Forcible Entry, D 18, 19; Id. Imprisonment, H 6,; Id. Pleader, 3 K 26; Id. 
Pleader, 3 M 23. Vide Search warrant. 
     4. A bench warrant is a process granted by a court authorizing a proper 
officer to apprehend and bring before it some on charged with some contempt, 
crime or misdemeanor. See Bench warrant. 
     5. A search warrant is a process issued by a competent court or officer 
authorizing an officer therein named or described, to examine a house or 
other place for the purpose of finding goods which it is alleged have been 
stolen. See Search warrant.