Jump To:

• give-up
  give-up

  noun

  something conceded or relinquished; concession.
• give up
  give up

  verb

  to abandon hope (for)

give-up

American  

[giv-uhp] / ˈgɪvˌʌp /

noun

1. something conceded or relinquished; concession.

   Labor has balked at any more give-ups in the contract talks.

2. Stock Exchange.

   1. a commission shared among two or more stockbrokers.

   2. a part of a commission that constitutes a single such share.

---

give up British  

verb

1. to abandon hope (for)

2. (tr) to renounce (an activity, belief, etc)

   I have given up smoking

3. (tr) to relinquish or resign from

   he gave up the presidency

4. (tr; usually reflexive) to surrender

   the escaped convict gave himself up

5. (tr) to reveal or disclose (information)

6. (intr) to admit one's defeat or inability to do something

7. (tr; often passive or reflexive) to devote completely (to)

   she gave herself up to caring for the sick

---

give up Idioms  

1. Surrender, as in The suspect gave himself up . [1100s]

2. Stop doing or performing something, as in They gave up the search , or She gave up smoking almost thirty years ago . [c. 1600]

3. Part with, relinquish, as in They gave up their New York apartment , or We gave up all hope of finding the lost tickets . [Mid-1500s]

4. Lose hope for, as in We had given you up as lost . [Late 1500s]

5. Admit defeat, as in I give up—what's the right answer? [c. 1600]

6. give up on . Abandon, lose one's faith in, as in I gave up on writing a novel , or She gave up on religion years ago . [ Colloquial ; second half of 1900s] Also see give oneself up to .

---

Etymology

Origin of give-up

First recorded in 1965–70; noun use of verb phrase give up

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

give-up give up

That give-up would represent an implicit payment for the security imparted by the U.S. to the rest of the world.

From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026

“There’s no give-up in her. She reminds me of myself.”

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 6, 2023

"There’s no give-up in this team," Kemp said.

From Fox News ● Aug. 30, 2021

"Leona has had a fantastic year and has a real grittiness. She's a good match player and will be solid, one of those never give-up players," said Matthew.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2021

Consider now, if they asked us, Will you give-up your Indian Empire or your Shakespeare, you English; never have had any Indian Empire, or never have had any Shakespeare?

From English Prose A Series of Related Essays for the Discussion and Practice by Frederick William Roe

But award show producers weren’t totally ready to give up on comics altogether.

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026

With sunset less than an hour away, the trappers give up on Doug and pivot to finding the clutch of kittens.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

Former recruitment consultant Katrina Collier, now an author, speaker and recruiter trainer, is concerned that competition-based recruitment processes that potentially require candidates to give up lots of their time for free can create "economic discrimination".

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

When most people get “prior authorization” denials from their health insurers, they have a similar reaction: They give up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

Perhaps he was sent here to convince Khedive Ismail to give up Cleo.

From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman

Related Words

• allowance
• compensation
• discount
• kickback
• payment
• rebate
• reimbursement
• repayment
• restitution