give over
Britishverb
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(tr) to transfer, esp to the care or custody of another
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(tr) to assign or resign to a specific purpose or function
the day was given over to pleasure
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informal to cease (an activity)
give over fighting, will you!
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Hand over, entrust, as in They gave over all the papers to the library . [Late 1400s]
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Also, give oneself over . Devote or surrender to a particular purpose or use, as in The whole day was given over to merrymaking , or He gave himself over to grief . [Late 1400s]
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.
There’s so much trauma and, “But what if I did just give over to something.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2025
You can’t totally give over because you know that there’s something has to be scratched that is unknown.
From New York Times ● Nov. 27, 2024
When Adams finally produced his personal phone the next day, it was locked with a new six-digit passcode that the mayor refused to give over to the feds, claiming that he could not remember it.
From Slate ● Sep. 26, 2024
“Don’t give over all of your critical faculties to people in power no matter how admirable those people may appear to be,” he continued.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 27, 2024
It seemed as though Wang Lung’s eldest son could never give over his hatred of his cousin or his deep suspicion of his cousin’s evil.
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
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.
