charter
noun
char·ter
| \ ˈchär-tər
\
\
Definition of charter
(Entry 1 of 3)
1
: a written instrument (see instrument entry 1 sense 4) or contract (such as a deed) executed in due form
2a
: a grant or guarantee of rights, franchises, or privileges from the sovereign power of a state or country
The charter allows for unrestricted trading.
b
: a written instrument that creates and defines the franchises (see franchise entry 1 sense 2) of a city, educational institution, or corporation
a city charter a corporate charter
c
: constitution
the Charter of the United Nations
3
: a written instrument from the authorities of a society creating a lodge or branch
The national headquarters approved the charter establishing the local lodge.
4
: a special privilege, immunity, or exemption
5
: a mercantile lease of a ship or some principal part of it
In the charter the ship's owner agreed to transport specified cargo to a specified port.
6a
: a charter travel arrangement
An agent handled the charter providing aircraft travel to and from the tournament.
b
: a chartered plane, bus, etc.
Their charter had just landed at Toronto's Pearson International Airport and … everyone in the Mariners' traveling party had to slog through a tedious customs check and then claim his own luggage.— Jeff Pearlman
7
: charter school
He pushed for the closure of Chicago's worst schools … and opened dozens of new schools, many of them charters.— Amanda Paulson et al.
charter
verb
chartered;
chartering;
charters
Definition of charter (Entry 2 of 3)
1a
: to establish, enable, or convey by charter
The city was chartered in 1837.
2
: to hire, rent, or lease for usually exclusive and temporary use
chartered a boat for deep-sea fishing
charter
adjectiveDefinition of charter (Entry 3 of 3)
: of, relating to, or being a travel arrangement in which transportation (such as a bus or plane) is hired by and for one specific group of people
a charter flight
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Other Words from charter
Verb
charterer
\ ˈchär-tər-ər
\
noun
\
noun
Examples of charter in a Sentence
Noun
The charter allows for unrestricted trading.Verb
The city was chartered in 1837. The team chartered a plane.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Hepburn has committed to paying for 22 charter flights to deliver supplies. — Dan Sweeney, sun-sentinel.com, "South Floridians launch efforts to help storm-ravaged Bahamas," 2 Sep. 2019 Douglas tweeted a photo of himself last week on a private charter flight headed to Clovis for the Gauchos’ season-opening game against Buchanan. — Eric Sondheimercolumnist, Los Angeles Times, "Column: Narbonne suffers big loss in wake of investigation," 31 Aug. 2019 The airline has previously been focused on charter flights. — Chris Morris, Fortune, "Eastern Airlines Plans to Fly Again Soon," 26 Aug. 2019 In 1995, the airport was sleepy aviation field that offered mostly charter flights and flying lessons to fledgling pilots and handled about 50,000 passengers. — Martin E. Comas, orlandosentinel.com, "Sanford airport now offers bus shuttle service to Universal Orlando," 19 Aug. 2019 Such glowing words have been rare this summer for the United States’ coach, Gregg Popovich, and the 13 players who boarded a charter flight Saturday night from Los Angeles to continue their tournament preparations in Australia. — Marc Stein, New York Times, "After Gloomy Talk of No-Shows, Signs of Optimism for U.S.A. Basketball," 18 Aug. 2019 The group typically does one charter flight in the spring and one in the fall, funded by donations. — John Wilkens, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Coronado D-Day vet featured in new documentary," 13 Aug. 2019 Several Brook Park charter amendments will appear as well. — Beth Mlady, cleveland.com, "November ballot will decide numerous municipal posts in Berea, Brook Park, Middleburg Hts.," 24 Aug. 2019 Douglas County School District spokeswoman Paula Hans said Tucker and the school board aren’t in favor of arming teachers in any school buildings, including charters. — Meg Wingerter, The Denver Post, "Castle Rock charter school that allows staff to carry concealed guns will leave Douglas County School District," 23 Aug. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
None of the local boat owners would charter them a vessel for such a ridiculous-sounding project, but along came the Western Flyer, sailing into Monterey Bay with captain Tony Berry at the helm. — Smithsonian, "John Steinbeck’s Epic Ocean Voyage Rewrote the Rules of Ecology," 22 Aug. 2019 Ramona Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3783 chartered the troop in April to fulfill the Boy Scouts requirement to have a nonprofit such as a church or Rotary Club anchor the troop. — Ramona Sentinel, "Boy Scout troop gains traction with six girls," 21 Aug. 2019 Scouts BSA Troop 682 recently chartered a girls Troop 682, which is also sponsored by St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Poway. — Emily Sorensen, Pomerado News, "Scouts BSA Troop 682 in Poway now has a troop for girls," 8 Aug. 2019 Fight to stop enrollment In May, a group of about 60 people, including Brackin, chartered a bus to attend the meeting of the Alabama Board of Education. — Trisha Powell Crain | [email protected], al.com, "Rural charter school stokes religious fears, roils community in Alabama," 21 July 2019 Unions chartered buses to ferry drivers to Sacramento the next day for their own rally supporting AB5. — Carolyn Said, SFChronicle.com, "Uber, Lyft drivers demand input on gig-work negotiations," 18 July 2019 Perot chartered two jets to fly medical supplies and the wives of POWs to Southeast Asia. — David Koenig, Twin Cities, "Colorful self-made billionaire H. Ross Perot dies at 89," 9 July 2019 Off to Cleveland The Red Sox chartered a plane for their All-Star contingent to make the short flight to Cleveland. — Julian Mcwilliams, BostonGlobe.com, "As Sox hit break, bats are booming," 7 July 2019 Amscot courted African American pastors and leaders located in the districts of dozens of Democratic lawmakers and chartered private jets to fly them to Florida’s capital to testify, according to the Tampa Bay Times. — Anjali Tsui, ProPublica, "How Payday Lenders Spent $1 Million at a Trump Resort — and Cashed In," 5 June 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
The report said none of the charter flights complied. — NBC News, "Watchdog: $341,000 wasted on travel for former high-flying HHS chief Tom Price," 13 July 2018 Justifications for using charter flights were sometimes flimsy, the report concluded. — Louise Radnofsky, WSJ, "HHS Watchdog Pushes to Recoup $341,000 Wasted by Ex-Secretary Price on Travel," 13 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'charter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.