(1) To give in to a request or demand. (2) To give approval or consent.
Example:
Voters tend to worry when Congress seems to be acceding to the demands of too many special-interest groups.
To accede usually means to yield, often under pressure, to the needs or requests of others. Sometimes this is a good thing, as when family members accede to the needs of others or we accede to our curiosity and take the peaceful back road to our destination. Accede often also implies reluctance. Patients may accede to surgery, and voters may accede to a tax increase, but eager shoppers do not accede to price reductions -- they welcome them.