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Search results for 'give':

give verb (gave, given, giving) 1 to transfer ownership of something; to transfer possession of something temporarily • gave him my watch • Give me your bags. 2 to provide or administer • give advice • give medicine. 3 to produce • Cows give milk. 4 to perform (an action, service, etc) • give a smile • She gave a lecture on beetles. 5 to pay • gave £20 for it. 6 intrans to make a donation • Please give generously. 7 (also give something up) to sacrifice it • give one's life • gave up his day off to finish the job on time. 8 to be the cause or source of something • gives me pain. 9 intrans to yield or break • give under pressure. 10 to organize something at one's own expense • give a party. 11 to have something as a result • four into twenty gives five. 12 to reward or punish with something • was given 20 years. 13 colloq to agree to or admit something; to concede • I'll give you that. 14 to offer a toast to someone or something. 15 sport to declare someone to be a specified thing • He was given offside. noun capacity to yield; flexibility • a board with plenty of give. give and take to make mutual concessions. give as good as one gets colloq to respond to an attack with equal energy, force and effect. give me colloq I prefer • Give me jazz any day. give or take something colloq allowing for a (specified) margin of error • We have all the money, give or take a pound. give someone to believe that ... to make someone think that or to give the impression that ... give someone up for dead or lost, etc to assume that they are dead or lost, etc, after abandoning hope. give up the ghost colloq to die. give way 1 to allow priority. 2 to collapse under pressure. give way to something to allow oneself to be affected by it • give way to tears. what gives? what is happening, the matter, etc? For many other idioms containing give, see under the next significant word in the idiom.
ETYMOLOGY: Anglo-Saxon gefan.

give someone away 1 to betray them. 2 to present (the bride) to the bridegroom at a wedding ceremony.

give something away 1 to hand it over as a gift. 2 to sell it at an incredibly low price. 3 to allow (a piece of information) to become known, usually by accident.

give in to someone or something to yield to them; to admit defeat.

give something off to produce or emit (eg a smell).

give on to or into something said of a passage, etc: to lead or be an opening to it • a terrace giving on to the lawn.

give out colloq to break down or come to an end • Their resistance gave out.

give something out 1 to announce or distribute it. 2 to emit (a sound, smell, etc).

give over or give over doing something colloq usually as a command: to stop (doing it) • Give over shouting!

give something over 1 to transfer it. 2 to set it aside or devote it to some purpose • The morning was given over to discussing the budgets.

give up to admit defeat.

give oneself up to surrender.

give oneself up to something to devote oneself to (a cause, etc).

give someone or something up to surrender or hand over (a wanted person, a weapon, etc).

give something up 1 to renounce or quit (a habit, etc) • give up smoking. 2 to resign from or leave (a job, etc).

give up doing something to stop making the effort to achieve it • gave up trying to talk sense to them.