give way
Idioms-
Retreat or withdraw, as in The army gave way before the enemy . [Early 1500s]
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Yield the right of way; also, relinquish ascendancy, as in The cars must give way to the parade , or The children were called inside as day gave way slowly to night . [Early 1700s]
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Collapse, fail, break down, as in The ladder gave way , or His health gave way under the strain . [Mid-1600s]
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Also, give way to . Yield to urging or demand, as in At the last minute he gave way and avoided a filibuster , or The owners gave way to their demands for a pay increase . [Mid-1700s]
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Also, give way to . Abandon oneself, lose self-control, as in She gave way to hysteria , or Don't give way to despair . [First half of 1800s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s not exactly the kind of metaphor you want to hang an entire film on, lest its relative simplicity give way under the heft of a feature film’s many parts.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
Languid piano tunes give way to surging, keening tides of strings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
In a landmark speech in 1949, he argued that once constitutional avenues existed, methods such as fasting and civil disobedience should give way to democratic processes, warning that otherwise they became the "grammar of anarchy".
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
Clara is developmentally disabled due to a childhood accident; Margaret’s efforts to keep her safe gradually give way to a fuller understanding of her daughter’s awakening, and the lovelessness of her own marriage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
I close my eyes, breathing in and out, and let the pain and the cold give way to sleep.
From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
