Brexit

American

[breg-zit, brek-sit] / ˈbrɛg zɪt, ˈbrɛk sɪt /

noun

the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from membership in the European Union.
the nonbinding national referendum in 2016 that resulted in a vote for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.

Etymology

Origin of Brexit

First recorded in 2012; (originally also spelled Brixit , referencing Britain's possible withdrawal); Br(itain) ( def. ) or Br(itish) ( def. ) + exit ¹ ( def. ); probably patterned on Grexit ( def. ), which dates from earlier that year

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In recent years the Welsh government has faced criticism for the time it has taken to plug what has been seen as a gap in environmental protections after Brexit.

From BBC

The result was a blow for Brexit champion Nigel Farage, whose Reform party has led national polls for the past year.

From Barron's

It is designed to bring clarity to Gibraltar's future, nearly a decade after the Brexit vote threw the status of the British overseas territory into doubt.

From BBC

Also, as Brexit took away some of the advantages of importing food from continental Europe, Senegal became increasingly more appealing.

From BBC

At the same time, government statistics show that County Durham is home to seven of the 10 poorest rural communities in England, and that its former mining villages have become more deprived since the UK voted for Brexit in 2016.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023