give up

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

1. transitiveTo surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).

   They gave him up to the police.

   1 more example

   He was surrounded, so gave himself up.

   Synonyms: surrender, yield

2. transitiveTo relinquish (something)

   He gave up his seat to an old man.

   2 more examples

   The king gave up land in exchange for peace.

   "Dear Miss Woodhouse, I would not give up the pleasure and honour of being intimate with you for any thing in the world."

   1816, Jane Austen, chapter 7, in Emma, volume 1

   Synonyms: forlend, surrender, yield

3. transitiveDevote or dedicate (oneself, one's life, etc.) to something.

   I gave myself up to working for this cause.

   1 more example

   She persuaded us to give up our time to the project.

4. transitiveTo have someone obtain (something) to one's disadvantage; to concede.

   A good pitcher will give up very few home runs.

   2 more examples

   Don't tell them where you are, and try not to give up any clues either.

   Fiers, who now pitches for the Oakland Athletics, has gone 27-12 with a no-hitter in two years since leaving the Astros. But the last time he faced them, on Sept. 9, he gave up nine runs, including five homers, and got just three outs.

   2019 November 14, Tyler Kepner, “After Reports of Astros' Cheating, M.L.B. Is Left to Restore Trust”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Jan 2023

5. transitiveTo stop or quit (an activity, etc.).

   They gave up the search when it got dark.

   2 more examples

   Once again, the WiFi isn't willing to work. When the guard comes to check tickets, I ask him if it ever works. He rolls his eyes and tells me it rarely does. He says I'll be lucky if I get it to connect. I give up trying.

   2025 October 15, 'Mystery Shopper', “About Anglia... and high scores”, in RAIL, number 1046, page 54

   A year after Tristan’s funeral, his grandma visited his grave, but she saw it had been dug up to 1.2 meters. Whoever had done it hadn’t managed to reach the boy’s coffin, and it looked like they had given up midway.

   2026 September 6, Aniket Chaughule, “Tristan Brübach, 13, Was Murdered in 1998. His Killer May Have Called Police and Later Returned to His Grave”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 08 Sep 2026

   Synonyms: cease, discontinue, blin, turn away from

6. transitiveTo abandon (someone or something)

   I gave up my faith years ago.

   4 more examples

   The semi-streamlined contour of the earlier G.W.R. railcars has been given up in favour of a more utilitarian blunt-nose end, and effective floor space gained thereby.

   1941 October, “Notes and News: Great Western Parcels Railcar”, in Railway Magazine, page 474

   Never gonna give you up / Never gonna let you down / Never gonna run around and desert you

   1987, Stock Aitken Waterman, “Never Gonna Give You Up”, in Whenever You Need Somebody, performed by Rick Astley

   The optimistic peace-and-love philosophy of his youth having given him up, he no longer knew how to reconcile himself to an increasingly phoney (he loathed, in this context, the otherwise excellent word “virtual”) reality.

   2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 7

   "I tried retirement ten years ago. Didn't think much of it. Complete waste of time. So I gave it up after two weeks."

   2021 November 3, Adrian Shooter talks to Paul Clifton, “A lifetime of railway achievements”, in RAIL, number 943, page 34

   Synonyms: desert, forlet, forsake

7. transitiveTo lose hope concerning (someone or something)

   They gave him up for dead.

8. intransitiveTo admit defeat, capitulate; to desist for that reason.

   OK, I give up, you win.

   1 more example

   Wake in a sweat again / Another day's been laid to waste / In my disgrace / Stuck in my head again / Feels like I'll never leave this place / There's no escape / I'm my own worst enemy / I've given up / I'm sick of feeling / Is there nothing you can say? / Take this all away / I'm suffocating

   2007, “Given Up”, Mike Shinoda (lyrics), performed by Linkin Park

   Synonyms: capitulate, give in, surrender, throw in the towel, wave the white flag

9. transitivebusinessTo execute a trade on behalf of another broker.
10. USdialectalintransitiveTo acknowledge, recognize as.

    The next morning, Sunday, I was boxing with R., who had come over with three or four others to swap a few with me. I was given up to be the best boxer around, and I laid them cold as fast as they came at me.

    1969, God Struck Me Dead; Religious Conversion Experiences and Autobiographies of Ex-Slaves, Philadelphia, P.A.; Boston, M.A.: Pilgrim Press, page 45

11. USintransitiveslangTo reveal (something).

    He gave up that he was the one who opened the door.

    1 more example

    Well, give it up, Prof! What did you find out!

    2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: Rogueport

comparative more give up · superlative most give up

1. USdialectalBecome fully taken over by a certain quality, activity, trait, etc.

   And now She Seems give up to Sin / Too much neglecting grace within

   c. 1808, Mary Woody, A true account of Nayomy Wise