give face

verb

To honor; to pay respect.

Meanings

give face1

verbgive face (third-person singular simple present gives face, present participle giving face, simple past gave face, past participle given face)

present singular third person gives face · participle present giving face · past gave face · participle past given face

  1. idiomaticTo honor; to pay respect.

    We gave face to one another.

    2000, Ko-lin Chin, Chinatown Gangs: Extortion, Enterprise, and Ethnicity, page 200
    2 more examples

    While she gave face to the director, his subordinates, and her colleagues, she had no face left to herself.

    2001, Wenshan Jia, The remaking of the Chinese character and identity in the 21st Century, page 135

    As one example among many of good intent gone wrong, we can mention the western top manager who felt that he gave face to the Chinese side by suddenly showing up himself to negotiate instead of sending a lower ranked employee.

    2003, Martin Krott, Kent Williamsson, China business ABC: the China market survival kit, page 51

give face2

verbgive face (third-person singular simple present gives face, present participle giving face, simple past gave face, past participle given face)

present singular third person gives face · participle present giving face · past gave face · participle past given face

  1. idiomaticslangTo perform cunnilingus.

    Boys gave face, girls gave head.

    2011, J. Darroll Hall, The Lollipop Book, page 107
    2 more examples

    Frank had pushed her pants down to reveal her pink pussy and was giving her face. She was in ecstasy.

    2001, Letters to Penthouse XIV, page 107

    I'd hold her ass while I was giving her face, licking and sucking while she tried to escape, anticipating her orgasm when all of the sudden she would burst sweet honey and come all over my face while the earth shook.

    2004, Henry Joseph Rychlicki, Fragments of My Life: A Sex Fiction, page 121

give face3

verbgive face (third-person singular simple present gives face, present participle giving face, simple past gave face, past participle given face)

present singular third person gives face · participle present giving face · past gave face · participle past given face

  1. To confront.

    He has been shot twice before, once when he was sixteen, that was some serious shit, sort of giving face to some dude, and the mother pulled out a.38 and boom, just like it was but a little more downtalk.

    1997, Scott Turow, The Laws of Our Fathers

Origin

give face · verb

  1. Cantonese畀面
  2. Englishgive face

First used in the late 19th century (most likely in the colonial Hong Kong), a calque of dialectal Cantonese 畀面 (bei2 min2).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

give face. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/give%20face

MLA

“give face.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/give%20face. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “give face,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/give%20face.

Source: give face on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.