give out

British  

verb

1. (tr) to emit or discharge

2. (tr) to publish or make known

   the chairman gave out that he would resign

3. (tr) to hand out or distribute

   they gave out free chewing gum on the street

4. (intr) to become exhausted; fail

   the supply of candles gave out

5. informal to reprimand (someone) at length

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

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give out Idioms  

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

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

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

4. 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]

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Example Sentences

Several guest stars have also been enlisted to give out some of the statuettes throughout the night.

From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026

And user trust is still an ongoing issue, given the potential for AI chatbots to hallucinate or otherwise give out bad information.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026

“When you’re kind of in the end process of getting back onto the court, there is such a mental barrier of, is my knee going to give out again?”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 8, 2026

“Companies don’t want to give out big bonuses. They don’t want to give out as many promotions. They don’t want to give many big pay increases,” she said.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 8, 2026

A few feet away, Pa and the fathers of the four other families who came with us on the truck listen to the representatives as they give out instructions.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung