allegiance
noun
ADJ. full, strong We will give our full allegiance to the party and everything it believes in.| traditional | changing, shifting It is hard to keep up with the changing allegiances between the various political parties.| political, religious | class, party
VERB + ALLEGIANCE give, owe He owed his allegiance to the organization that had given him all his opportunities.| pledge, swear The rebels now have to swear allegiance to the queen they hate.| abandon Many people have abandoned their traditional party allegiances.| change, shift, switch, transfer | claim The various splinter groups all claim allegiance to the true spirit of the movement.| claim, command Catholicism claims allegiance from more than 80% of the population.| retain The union needs to retain the allegiance of all its members for the strike to succeed.
PREP. to ~ He is now very rich but his allegiance to his working-class origins is still strong.
PHRASES an oath of allegiance Every day the schoolchildren pledge an oath of allegiance to their country.
