Select the most appropriate ANTONYM of the given word. Concede

Correct — C. Concede carries two senses: to admit that something is true, and to yield or give up. An antonym item asks you to reverse one of them.

Reverse the admit sense and you get refusing to admit — Deny → option (c). To concede a point and to deny it are the standard opposites.

The other sense is covered too, but by a synonym rather than a reversal, which is the trap the options are built around.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Avow — Avow means to declare or assert openly, which sits beside concede's admit sense rather than against it. Two words that both mean to state something cannot be opposites.
• (b)
  Battle — Battle names a fight or contest. Concede here is about acknowledging a claim, and the reverse of acknowledging is refusing to acknowledge, not taking up arms.
• (d)
  Surrender — Surrender restates concede's second sense, to yield, instead of reversing it. An antonym item punishes the option closest in meaning, and this is that option.

A bare one-word antonym item is decided by which sense of the word you reverse, so settle the senses before you look at the options.

Concede is a two-sense verb: to admit a point, and to yield ground. Test each option as a reversal of one of those.

An option that restates a sense is a synonym in disguise, and the paper plants one on purpose. Surrender mirrors the yield sense and Avow shadows the admit sense, leaving Deny as the only true reversal among the four.

Key facts

• Concede means to admit that something is true, and also to yield or surrender.
• Deny is the direct opposite of the admit sense of concede.
• Avow means to declare openly or assert, which is close to admitting rather than opposite to it.

Common traps

• Choosing Surrender, which is a synonym of one sense of concede rather than an opposite.
• Reversing only the sense that came to mind first.
• Reading Battle as an opposite because giving up and fighting feel contrary.

No directly related past PYQ was found.