[vee-toh] 
noun, plural -toes, verb, -toed, -to⋅ing.| 1. | the power or right vested in one branch of a government to cancel or postpone the decisions, enactments, etc., of another branch, esp. the right of a president, governor, or other chief executive to reject bills passed by the legislature. |
| 2. | the exercise of this right. |
| 3. | Also called veto message. a document exercising such right and setting forth the reasons for such action. |
| 4. | a nonconcurring vote by which one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council can overrule the actions or decisions of the meeting on matters other than procedural. |
| 5. | an emphatic prohibition of any sort. |
| 6. | pocket veto. |
| 7. | to reject (a proposed bill or enactment) by exercising a veto. |
| 8. | to prohibit emphatically. |
| ve·to (vē'tō) n. pl. ve·toes
[From Latin vetō, first person sing. present tense of vetāre, to forbid.] ve'to·er n. |
A vote that blocks a decision. In the United Nations, for example, each of the five permanent members of the Security Council has the power of veto.
The power of a president or governor to reject a bill proposed by a legislature by refusing to sign it into law. The president or governor actually writes the word veto (Latin for “I forbid”) on the bill and sends it back to the legislature with a statement of his or her objections. The legislature may choose to comply by withdrawing or revising the bill, or it can override the veto and pass the law, by a two-thirds vote in each house.
Note: Originally intended to prevent Congress from passing unconstitutional laws, the veto is now used by the president as a powerful bargaining tool, especially when his objectives conflict with majority sentiment in Congress. (See also checks and balances.)