Give

English Meaning

To bestow without receiving a return; to confer without compensation; to impart, as a possession; to grant, as authority or permission; to yield up or allow.

1. To make a present of: We gave her flowers for her birthday.
2. To place in the hands of; pass: Give me the scissors.
3. To deliver in exchange or recompense; pay: gave five dollars for the book.
4. To let go for a price; sell: gave the used car away for two thousand dollars.
5. To administer: give him some cough medicine.
6. To convey by a physical action: gave me a punch in the nose.
7. To inflict as punishment: gave the child a spanking; was given life imprisonment for the crime.
8. Law To accord by verdict: A decision was given for the plaintiff.
9. To bestow, especially officially; confer: The Bill of Rights gives us freedom of speech.
10. To accord or tender to another: Give him your confidence.
11. To put temporarily at the disposal of: gave them the cottage for a week.
12. To entrust to another, usually for a specified reason: gave me the keys for safekeeping.
13. To convey or offer for conveyance: Give him my best wishes.
14. Law To execute and deliver. Used especially in the phrase give bond.
15. To endure the loss of; sacrifice: gave her son to the war; gave her life for her country.
16. To devote or apply completely: gives herself to her work.
17. To furnish or contribute: gave their time to help others.
18. To offer in good faith; pledge: Give me your word.
19. To allot as a portion or share.
20. To bestow (a name, for example).
21. To attribute (blame, for example) to someone; assign.
22. To award as due: gave us first prize.
23. To emit or utter: gave a groan; gave a muted response.
24. To submit for consideration, acceptance, or use: give an opinion; give an excuse.
25. To proffer to another: gave the toddler my hand.
26. To consent to engage (oneself) in sexual intercourse with a man.
27. To perform for an audience: give a recital.
28. To present to view: gave the sign to begin.
29. To offer as entertainment: give a dinner party.
30. To propose as a toast.
31. To be a source of; afford: His remark gave offense. Music gives her pleasure.
32. To cause to catch or be subject to (a disease or bodily condition): The draft gave me a cold.
33. To guide or direct, as by persuasion or behavior. Used with an infinitive phrase: You gave me to imagine you approved of my report.
34. To yield or produce: Cows give milk.
35. To bring forth or bear: trees that give fruit.
36. To produce as a result of calculation: 5 × 12 gives 60.
37. To manifest or show: gives promise of brilliance; gave evidence of tampering.
38. To carry out (a physical movement): give a wink; give a start.
39. To permit one to have or take: gave us an hour to finish.
40. To take an interest to the extent of: "My dear, I don't give a damn” ( Margaret Mitchell).
41. To make gifts or donations: gives generously to charity.
42. To yield to physical force.
43. To collapse from force or pressure: The roof gave under the weight of the snow.
44. To yield to change: Both sides will have to give on some issues.
45. To afford access or a view; open: The doors give onto a terrace.
46. Slang To be in progress; happen: What gives?
47. Capacity or inclination to yield under pressure.
48. The quality or condition of resilience; springiness: "Fruits that have some give ... will have more juice than hard ones” ( Elizabeth Schneider).
49. give away To make a gift of.
50. give away To present (a bride) to the bridegroom at a wedding ceremony.
51. give away To reveal or make known, often accidentally.
52. give away To betray.
53. give back To return: gave me back my book.
54. give in To hand in; submit: She gave in her report.
55. give in To cease opposition; yield.
56. give of To devote or contribute: She really gave of her time to help. They give of themselves to improve the quality of education.
57. give off To send forth; emit: chemical changes that give off energy.
58. give out To allow to be known; declare publicly: gave out the bad news.
59. give out To send forth; emit: gave out a steady buzzing.
60. give out To distribute: gave out the surplus food.
61. give out To stop functioning; fail.
62. give out To become used up or exhausted; run out: Their determination finally gave out.
63. give over To hand over; entrust.
64. give over To devote to a particular purpose or use: gave the day over to merrymaking.
65. give over To surrender (oneself) completely; abandon: finally gave myself over to grief.
66. give over To cause an activity to stop: ordered the combatants to give over.
67. give up To surrender: The suspects gave themselves up.
68. give up To devote (oneself) completely: gave herself up to her work.
69. give up To cease to do or perform: gave up their search.
70. give up To desist from; stop: gave up smoking.
71. give up To part with; relinquish: gave up the apartment; gave up all hope.
72. give up To lose hope for: We had given the dog up as lost.
73. give up To lose hope of seeing: We'd given you up an hour ago.
74. give up To admit defeat.
75. give up To abandon what one is doing or planning to do: gave up on writing the novel.
76. give a good account of (oneself) To behave or perform creditably.
77. give birth to To bear as offspring.
78. give birth to To be the origin of: a hobby that gave birth to a successful business.
79. give ground To yield to a more powerful force; retreat.
80. give it to Informal To punish or reprimand severely: My parents really gave it to me for coming in late.
81. give or take Plus or minus a small specified amount: The chalet is close to the road, give or take a few hundred yards.
82. give rise to To be the cause or origin of; bring about.
83. give (someone) a hard time To make life difficult for; harass.
84. give (someone) a hard time To make fun of; tease.
85. give (someone) the eye To look at admiringly or invitingly.
86. give the lie to To show to be inaccurate or untrue.
87. give the lie to To accuse of lying.
88. give up the ghost To cease living or functioning; die.
89. give way To retreat or withdraw.
90. give way To yield the right of way: gave way to an oncoming car.
91. give way To relinquish ascendancy or position: as day gives way slowly to night.
92. give way To collapse from or as if from physical pressure: The ladder gave way.
93. give way To yield to urging or demand; give in.
94. give way To abandon oneself: give way to hysteria.