give

[ giv ]

/ gɪv /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR give ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), gave, giv·en, giv·ing.

to present voluntarily and without expecting compensation; bestow: to give a birthday present to someone.

to hand to someone: Give me that plate, please.

to place in someone's care: If you give me your coat, I'll put it in the closet.

to grant (permission, opportunity, etc.) to someone: Give me a chance.

to impart or communicate: to give advice; to give a cold to someone.

to set forth or show; present; offer: He gave no reason for his lateness.

to pay or transfer possession to another in exchange for something: They gave five dollars for the picture. He gave me the car for $800.

to furnish, provide, or proffer: to give evidence; Let me give you my umbrella before you go out in this rain.

to provide as an entertainment or social function: to give a New Year's Eve party.

to deal or administer: to give a blow to someone; to give medicine to a patient.

to put forth, emit, or utter; issue: to give a cry; to give a command.

to assign or admit as a basis of calculation or reasoning (usually used passively): These facts being given, the argument makes sense.

to produce, yield, or afford: to give good results; 9 × 8 gives 72; The hen gave six eggs a week.

to make, do, or perform: to give a start; to give a lurch.

to perform or present publicly: to give a play; to give a concert.

to cause; be responsible for (usually followed by an infinitive): They gave me to understand that you would be there.

to care about something to the value or extent of (something fanciful): I don't give a hoot about his opinion.

to relinquish or sacrifice: to give one's life for a cause.

to convey or transmit: Give Aunt Betty my love.

to assign or allot: Give every man a full ration of biscuits. They gave him the name of “Joseph.”

to bestow (the object of one's choice) upon, as if by providence: Give me the wide open spaces anytime.

to be connected with, as by a telephone operator: Give me 235-7522.

to present to an audience, as an entertainer, speaker, or act: Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the governor of Texas.

to attribute or ascribe: to give the devil his due; After long study the critic gave the unsigned work to a minor impressionist.

to cause or occasion: She gives me a pain in the neck.

to apply fully or freely: He gives his free time to golf.

to award by verdict or after consideration: A decision was given for the defendant.

to inflict as a punishment on another; punish by; impose a sentence of: The judge gave him five years.

to pledge, offer as a pledge, or execute and deliver: He gave her his promise. Can you give bond?

to propose as the subject of a toast (followed by an indirect object): Ladies and gentlemen, I give you our country.

to bear to a man; deliver (followed by an indirect object): She gave him a beautiful baby boy.

to sire upon a woman; father (followed by an indirect object): He gave her two children in the first five years of marriage.

to concede or grant, as a point in an argument.

verb (used without object), gave, giv·en, giv·ing.

to make a gift or gifts; contribute: to give to the United Way.

to yield somewhat, as to influence or force; compromise: We can't negotiate until each side is willing to give on some points.

to yield somewhat when subjected to weight, force, pressure, etc.: A horsehair mattress doesn't give much.

to collapse; break down; fall apart; fail: The antique chair gave when I sat on it.

to be warm and open in relationships with other persons: a withdrawn person who doesn't know how to give.

Informal. to divulge information: Okay now, give! What happened?

to afford a view or passage; face, open, or lead (usually followed by on, onto, etc.): The window gives on the sea. This door gives onto the hallway.

noun

the quality or state of being resilient; springiness.

Verb Phrases

give away,

to give as a present; bestow.
to present (the bride) to the bridegroom in a marriage ceremony.
to expose or betray (a person).
to reveal (a confidence or secret, hidden motives, true feelings, etc.): That remark gave away his real feelings.

give back, to return (something), as to its owner; restore: You haven't given back the books you borrowed from me.

give birth to. birth(def 10).

give in,

to acknowledge defeat; yield.
to hand in; deliver: Please give in your timecards.

give of, to devote or contribute generously of: to give of oneself; to give of one's abundance.

give off, to put forth; emit: The gardenia gives off a very strong fragrance.

give out,

to send out; emit.
to make public; announce.
to distribute; issue.
to become exhausted.
to become used up; fail: The fuel gave out.
to do or express something, especially unrestrainedly or easily: to give out with a song.

give over,

to put into the care of; transfer: She gave over all her property to her daughter.
to put an end to; stop: They will never give over their impossible dreams.
to indulge in without restraint: She gave herself over to tears.
to devote to a specified activity: The day was given over to relaxing in the sun.

give up,

to abandon hope; despair.
to desist from; renounce: to give up smoking.
to surrender; relinquish.
to devote (oneself) entirely to: She gave herself up to her job and seldom saw her old friends.
South Midland U.S. to consider; deem: She's given up to be the kindest woman around here.

Nearby words

giuki, giukung, giulini, giulio romano, giusto, give, give a bad name to, give a break, give a damn, give a good account of oneself, give a hand

Idioms

give and take,

to compromise in order to cooperate: A willingness to give and take is important for success in marriage.
to exchange ideas: an informal meeting in which there would be opportunities to give and take.

give battle. battle¹(def 10).

give ground, to yield before superior force, as of arms or of reasoning.

give it to, Informal. to reprimand or punish: His father really gave it to him for coming home so late.

give or take, plus or minus a specified amount; more or less: It will cost $20, give or take a dollar or two.

give rise to. rise(def 55).

give way. way¹(def 25).

Origin of give

before 900; Middle English < Old Norse gefa (compare Danish give); replacing Middle English yeven, yiven, Old English gefan, giefan; cognate with Dutch geven, German geben, Gothic giban

SYNONYMS FOR give

1 offer, vouchsafe, impart, accord, furnish, provide, supply, donate, contribute.

18 cede, yield.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR give ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR give

1 receive.

SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR give ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

giv·a·ble, give·a·ble, adjective, noungiv·er, nounnon·giv·ing, adjectivere·give, verb re·gave, re·giv·en, re·giv·ing.

self-giv·ing, adjectiveun·give·a·ble, adjectiveun·giv·ing, adjective

Synonym study

1. Give, confer, grant, present may mean that something concrete or abstract is bestowed on one person by another. Give is the general word: to give someone a book, permission, etc. Confer usually means to give an honor or a favor; it implies courteous and gracious giving: to confer a degree. Grant is limited to the idea of acceding to a request; it may apply to the bestowal of privileges, or the fulfillment of an expressed wish: to grant a charter, a prayer, permission, etc. Present, a more formal word than give, usually implies a certain ceremony in the giving: to present a citation to a regiment.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for give out (1 of 2)

give out

verb (adverb)

(tr) to emit or discharge

(tr) to publish or make knownthe chairman gave out that he would resign

(tr) to hand out or distributethey gave out free chewing gum on the street

(intr) to become exhausted; failthe supply of candles gave out

(intr foll by to) Irish informal to reprimand (someone) at length

(tr) cricket (of an umpire) to declare (a batsman) dismissed

British Dictionary definitions for give out (2 of 2)

give

/ (ɡɪv) /

verb gives, giving, gave (ɡeɪv) or given (ˈɡɪvən) (mainly tr)

(also intr) to present or deliver voluntarily (something that is one's own) to the permanent possession of another or others

(often foll by for) to transfer (something that is one's own, esp money) to the possession of another as part of an exchangeto give fifty pounds for a painting

to place in the temporary possession of anotherI gave him my watch while I went swimming

(when intr, foll by of) to grant, provide, or bestowgive me some advice

to administerto give a reprimand

to award or attributeto give blame, praise, etc

to be a source ofhe gives no trouble

to impart or communicateto give news; give a person a cold

to utter or emitto give a shout

to perform, make, or dothe car gave a jolt and stopped

to sacrifice or devotehe gave his life for his country

to surrenderto give place to others

to concede or yieldI will give you this game

(intr) informal to happenwhat gives?

(often foll by to) to cause; leadshe gave me to believe that she would come

(foll by for) to value (something) atI don't give anything for his promises

to perform or present as an entertainmentto give a play

to propose as a toastI give you the Queen

(intr) to yield or break under force or pressurethis surface will give if you sit on it; his courage will never give

give as good as one gets to respond to verbal or bodily blows to at least an equal extent as those received

give battle to commence fighting

give birth (often foll by to)

to bear (offspring)
to produce, originate, or create (an idea, plan, etc)

give a person five or give a person some skin slang to greet or congratulate someone by slapping raised hands

give ground to draw back or retreat

give it up for someone slang to applaud someone

give someone one British slang to have sex with someone

give rise to to be the cause of

give me informal I prefergive me hot weather any day!

give or take plus or minusthree thousand people came, give or take a few hundred

give way See way (def. 24)

give a person what for informal to punish or reprimand a person severely

noun

a tendency to yield under pressure; resiliencethere's bound to be some give in a long plank; there is no give in his moral views

Derived Forms

givable or giveable, adjectivegiver, noun

Word Origin for give

Old English giefan; related to Old Norse gefa, Gothic giban, Old High German geban, Swedish giva

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with give out (1 of 2)

give out

Allow to be known, declare publicly, as in They gave out that she was ill. [Mid-1300s]

Send forth, emit, as in The machine gave out a steady buzzing. [Mid-1400s]

Distribute, as in They gave out surplus food every week. [c. 1700]

Stop functioning, fail; also, become exhausted or used up. For example, The motor gave out suddenly, or My strength simply gave out. [First half of 1500s]

Idioms and Phrases with give out (2 of 2)

give

In addition to the idioms beginning with give

give a bad name to
give a break
give a damn
give a good account of oneself
give a hand
give a hang
give a hard time
give a hoot
give a leg up
give and take
give an inch and they'll take a mile
give a pain
give a piece of one's mind
give as good as one gets
give a shit
give away
give a wide berth
give bad marks to
give birth to
give chase
give color to
give credit
give free rein to
give ground
give in
give it one's best shot
give it to
give me a break
give notice
given to
give off
give of oneself
give one
give oneself airs
give oneself away
give oneself up
give one's eyeteeth
give or take
give out
give over
give pause
give rein to
give rise to
give short shrift
give someone
give someone a break
give someone a ring
give someone heart failure
give someone hell
give someone his or her due
give someone his or her head
give someone the air
give someone the evil eye
give someone the once-over
give someone enough rope
give someone fits
give something a whirl
give thanks for small blessings
give the back of one's hand
give the benefit of the doubt
give the business
give the creeps
give the devil his due
give the eye
give the finger
give the go-ahead
give the lie to
give the shirt off one's back
give the slip
give the time of day
give the word
give the works
give to understand
give up
give up the ghost
give vent to
give voice to
give way
give way to
give what for

also see:

hard time (give someone a)
Indian giver
never give a sucker an even break
not care (give) a rap
not give someone the time of day
what's cooking (gives)

Also see under idioms beginning withget and have.