what gives?

Variant of give

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 © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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