discretion noun

1 freedom to make decisions

ADJ. considerable, full, greater, more, wide | absolute, complete, unfettered The school governors have absolute discretion over which pupils they admit. | executive, judicial, management/managerial, personal, professional The president used his executive discretion to pardon the two men.

VERB + DISCRETION exercise, have, use The police exercise discretion in the area of minor traffic offences. | give sb They would like local authorities to be given greater discretion as to how the money is spent. | leave sth to ‘Do you want me to do the job myself or hire a photographer?’ ‘I leave it to your discretion.’

PREP. at sb's ~ Bail is granted at the discretion of the court. There is no service charge and tipping is at your discretion. | ~ about We have discretion about how much to charge. | ~ as to She has considerable discretion as to how the money is spent. | ~ over giving judges more discretion over sentencing

PHRASES the exercise/operation of discretion

2 being discreet

ADJ. great, the utmost

VERB + DISCRETION call for, need, require This case calls for the utmost discretion. | rely on This is confidential, but I know that I can rely on your discretion.

PREP. with ~ to conduct enquiries with discretion.

PHRASES a lack of discretion, a need for discretion

You can also check other dicts: discretion (English, 中文解释 ), wordnet sense, Collins Definition

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