give Hear it!

give definition

give (giv)

transitive verb gave, given giv′en, giving giv′·ing

  1. to turn over the possession or control of to someone without cost or exchange; make a gift of
  2. to hand or pass over into the trust or keeping of someone to give the porter a bag to carry, to give a daughter in marriage
  3. to hand or pass over in exchange for something else; sell (goods, services, etc.) for a price or pay (a price) for goods, services, etc.
  4. to relay; pass along to give regards to someone
  5. to produce in a person or thing; cause to have; impart to give pleasure, to give someone a cold
  6. to confer or assign (a title, position, name, etc.)
  7. to act as host or sponsor of (a party, dance, etc.)
  8. ☆ to put in communication with, as by telephone
  9. to be the source, origin, or cause of; produce; supply cows give milk
    1. to part with for some cause; sacrifice to give one's life for a cause
    2. to devote to some occupation, pursuit, etc. to give one's life to art
  10. to concede; yield to give a point in an argument
  11. to offer or yield (oneself) to a man for sexual intercourse
  12. to show; exhibit to give every indication of being a fool
  13. to put forward for acceptance or rejection; offer; proffer to give a suggestion
    1. to perform to give a concert
    2. to introduce or present (a speaker, the subject of a toast, etc.)
  14. to make (a gesture, movement, etc.) to give a leap
  15. to perform (a physical act) to give someone a hug, kiss, etc.
  16. to administer or dispense (medicine, etc.)
  17. to utter, emit, or produce (words, sounds, etc.); put in words; state to give a reply
  18. to inflict or impose (punishment, sentence, etc.)

Etymology: ME given (with g- < ON gefa, to give), yeven < OE giefan, akin to Ger geben < IE base *ghabh-, to grasp, take > L habere, to have: the special Gmc sense of this base results from its use as a substitute for IE *dō- (as in L dare, to give)

intransitive verb

  1. to make gifts or donations; contribute
  2. to bend, sink, move, break down, yield, etc. from force or pressure
  3. to be springy; be resilient
  4. to provide a view of, or a way of getting to, someplace; open: usually with on, upon, or onto the window gives on the park
  5. Informal to occur; happen
    chiefly in the phrase what gives?
  6. Slang to abandon a claim, fight, etc.; give in or give up

noun

  1. a bending, moving, sinking, etc. under pressure
  2. a tendency to be springy; resilience
give Idioms

give and take

to exchange on an even basis

give away

  1. to make a gift of; donate; bestow
  2. in a marriage ceremony, to present (the bride) ritually to the bridegroom
  3. Informal to reveal, expose, or betray

give back

to return or restore

give forth

to send forth; emit; issue

give in

  1. to hand in
  2. to abandon a claim, fight, or argument; surrender; yield

give it to

Informal to punish; beat or scold

give off

to send forth or out; emit

give or take

plus or minus a price of $1.00, give or take a few cents

give out

  1. to send forth or out; emit
  2. to cause to be known; make public
  3. to distribute
  4. to become worn out or used up; fail to last

give over

  1. to hand over
  2. to stop; cease
  3. to set apart for some purpose

give to understand (or believe, etc.)

to cause to understand (or believe, etc.)

give up

  1. to hand over; turn over; surrender
  2. to stop; cease
  3. to admit failure and stop trying
  4. to lose hope for; despair of
  5. to sacrifice; devote wholly

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:
give Synonyms

give

v.

  1. To transfer

    grant, bestow, confer, impart, present, endow, bequeath, award, dispense, subsidize, contribute, parcel out, hand out, dole out, give out, pass in, hand in, throw in, hand down, hand over, deliver, let have, tip, remit, pass down, convey, deed, sell, will, give over, make over, put into the hands of, contribute to, lavish upon, consign, negotiate, relinquish, cede, lease, accord, invest, dispose of, part with, fob off, lay upon, turn over, heap upon, transmit, settle, take delivery on, come through with, come across with, shell out, dish out, deal out, fork over, untie the purse strings, kick in, palm off.

    Antonyms maintain*, withhold*, take. *

  2. To provide

    furnish, proffer, supply; see provide 1.

  3. To produce

    yield, furnish, return; see produce 1.

  4. To yield under pressure

    give way, retreat, collapse, fall, contract, offer no resistance, shrink, recede, open, relax, sag, bend, flex, crumble, crumple, yield, bow to.

    Antonyms resist*, remain rigid, stand firm.

  5. To allot

    assign, dispense, deal; see distribute 1.

  6. To inflict

    strike, deliver, mete out; see inflict 1.

  7. To pass on

    communicate, transmit, transfer; see carry 2.

  8. To give a speech

    deliver, present, read; see address 2.

  9. To give a play

    put on, present, produce; see perform 2.

  10. To administer

    minister, provide with, dispense; see administer 2.

give is the general word meaning to transfer from one's own possession to that of another; grant implies that there has been a request or an expressed desire for the thing given to grant a favor; present implies a certain formality in the giving and often connotes considerable value in the gift he presented the school with a library; donate is used especially of a giving to some philanthropic or religious cause; bestow stresses that the thing is given gratuitously and may imply condescension in the giver to bestow charity upon the poor; confer implies that the giver is a superior and that the thing given is an honor, privilege, etc. to confer a title, a college degree, etc.

what gives*

what happened? what is going on? tell me the facts; see what 2.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

give Usage Examples

Object

  • advice: Representative from the give flawed advice inherent within professional.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • up: Don't give up now - let your politicians know you are watching every step they take.

Followed by a transitive particle

  • away: He follows the right Path and when there is a proper occasion he can generously give away things to others.

Used with why or when

  • whatever: I will continue to give whatever support I can with the newsletter and peer support for HIV+ people.

Particle object: away_obj

  • prise: CN Radio reserves the right not to give away any prize if no winner is found.
give usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

give quotes

Continentiam iubes; da quod iubes et iube quod vis. You command continence; give what youcommand and command what you will.

-St Augustine originally Aurelius Augustinus

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

-Bible (NewTestament)

It is more blessed to give than to receive.

-Bible (NewTestament)

give quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"give." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/give>

APA Style

give. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/give

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment