give
EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English given, from Old Norse gefa (“to give”), from Proto-Germanic *gebaną (“to give”). Merged with native Middle English yiven, ȝeven, from Old English ġiefan, from the same Proto-Germanic source (compare the obsolete inherited English doublet yive).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
give (third-person singular simple present gives, present participle giving, simple past gave, past participle given)
- (ditransitive) To move, shift, provide something abstract or concrete to someone or something or somewhere.
- To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone).
- I gave him my coat.
- I gave my coat to the beggar.
- When they asked, I gave my coat.
- To make a present or gift of.
- I'm going to give my wife a necklace for her birthday.
- She gave a pair of shoes to her husband for their anniversary.
- He gives of his energies to the organization.
- To pledge.
- I gave him my word that I'd protect his children.
- To provide (something) to (someone), to allow or afford.
- I gave them permission to miss tomorrow's class.
- Please give me some more time.
- To cause (a sensation or feeling) to exist in.
- It gives me a lot of pleasure to be here tonight.
- The fence gave me an electric shock.
- My mother-in-law gives me nothing but grief.
- To carry out (a physical interaction) with (something).
- I want to give you a kiss.
- She gave him a hug.
- I'd like to give the tire a kick.
- I gave the boy a push on the swing.
- She gave me a wink afterwards, so I knew she was joking.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
- Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway, […] .
- To pass (something) into (someone's hand, etc.).
- Give me your hand.
- On entering the house, he gave his coat to the doorman.
- To cause (a disease or condition) in, or to transmit (a disease or condition) to.
- My boyfriend gave me chlamydia.
- He was convinced that it was his alcoholism that gave him cancer.
- 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations
- Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
- To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone).
- (ditransitive) To estimate or predict (a duration or probability) for (something).
- I give it ten minutes before he gives up.
- I give it a 95% chance of success.
- I'll give their marriage six months.
- (intransitive) To yield slightly when a force is applied.
- 1992, Garry Wills, “prologue”, in Lincoln at Gettysburg, page 21:
- A soldier noticed how earth "gave" as he walked over the shallow trenches.
- (intransitive) To collapse under pressure or force.
- One pillar gave, then more, and suddenly the whole floor pancaked onto the floor below.
- (transitive) To provide, as, a service or a broadcast.
- They're giving my favorite show!
- 2003, Iain Aitken, Value-Driven IT Management: Commercializing the IT Function, page 153
- […] who did not have a culture in which 'giving good presentation' and successfully playing the internal political game was the way up.
- 2006, Christopher Matthew Spencer The Ebay Entrepreneur, page 248
- A friendly voice on the phone welcoming prospective new clients is a must. Don't underestimate the importance of giving good "phone".
- (intransitive) To lead (onto or into).
- The master bedroom gives onto a spacious balcony.
- (transitive, dated) To provide a view of.
- His window gave the park.
- To exhibit as a product or result; to produce; to yield.
- The number of men, divided by the number of ships, gives four hundred to each ship.
- To cause; to make; used with the infinitive.
- c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene viii]:
- But there the duke was given to understand / That in a gondola were seen together / Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica.
- To cause (someone) to have; produce in (someone); effectuate.
- 1997, Jim Smoke, How a Man Measures Success, page 82:
- "Can do" gives me a choice, while "should do" gives me a complex.
- To allow or admit by way of supposition; to concede.
- He can be bad-tempered, I'll give you that, but he's a hard worker.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book 2”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- I give not heaven for lost.
- To attribute; to assign; to adjudge.
- 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal
- I don't wonder at people giving him to me for a lover..
- 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal
- To communicate or announce (advice, tidings, etc.); to pronounce or utter (an opinion, a judgment, a shout, etc.).
- The umpire finally gave his decision: the ball was out.
- (dated) To grant power or permission to; to allow.
- 1700, Nicholas Rowe, The Ambitious Stepmother
- once again
'Tis given me to behold my friend.
- once again
- 1725, Homer; [Alexander Pope], transl., “Book III”, in The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: Printed for Bernard Lintot, OCLC 8736646:
- Then give thy friend to shed the sacred wine.
- 1700, Nicholas Rowe, The Ambitious Stepmother
- (reflexive) To devote or apply (oneself).
- The soldiers give themselves to plunder.
- That boy is given to fits of bad temper.
- (obsolete) To become soft or moist.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)
- (obsolete) To shed tears; to weep.
- c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene iii]:
- Whose eyes do never give / But through lust and laughter.
- (obsolete) To have a misgiving.
- c. 1608-1634, John Webster, Appius and Virginia
- My mind gives ye're reserv'd / To rob poor market women.
- c. 1608-1634, John Webster, Appius and Virginia
- (slang) To be going on, to be occurring
ConjugationEdit
infinitive | give | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | giving | ||||||||||
past participle | given | ||||||||||
simple | progressive | perfect | perfect progressive | ||||||||
present | I give | we give | I am giving | we are giving | I have given | we have given | I have been giving | we have been giving | |||
you give | you give | you are giving | you are giving | you have given | you have given | you have been giving | you have been giving | ||||
he gives | they give | he is giving | they are giving | he has given | they have given | he has been giving | they have been giving | ||||
past | I gave | we gave | I was giving | we were giving | I had given | we had given | I had been giving | we had been giving | |||
you gave | you gave | you were giving | you were giving | you had given | you had given | you had been giving | you had been giving | ||||
he gave | they gave | he was giving | they were giving | he had given | they had given | he had been giving | they had been giving | ||||
future | I will give | we will give | I will be giving | we will be giving | I will have given | we will have given | I will have been giving | we will have been giving | |||
you will give | you will give | you will be giving | you will be giving | you will have given | you will have given | you will have been giving | you will have been giving | ||||
he will give | they will give | he will be giving | they will be giving | he will have given | they will have given | he will have been giving | they will have been giving | ||||
conditional | I would give | we would give | I would be giving | we would be giving | I would have given | we would have given | I would have been giving | we would have been giving | |||
you would give | you would give | you would be giving | you would be giving | you would have given | you would have given | you would have been giving | you would have been giving | ||||
he would give | they would give | he would be giving | they would be giving | he would have given | they would have given | he would have been giving | they would have been giving | ||||
imperative | give |
SynonymsEdit
- (transfer possession of): See Thesaurus:give
- (bend slightly when a force is applied): bend, cede, flex, move, yield, split
- (estimate or predict): estimate, guess, predict
- (provide):
AntonymsEdit
- (transfer possession of): get, obtain, receive, take
- (bend slightly when a force is applied): not bend/cede/flex/give/move/yield, resist
Derived termsEdit
See also given, giver and giving
- begive
- foregive
- forgive
- give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime
- give and take
- give away
- give away the store
- give back
- give birth
- give forth
- give ground
- give head
- give in
- give it one's all
- give it one's best shot
TranslationsEdit
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
NounEdit
give (uncountable)
- The amount of bending that something undergoes when a force is applied to it; a tendency to yield under pressure; resilence.
- This chair doesn't have much give.
- There is no give in his dogmatic religious beliefs.
TranslationsEdit
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Etymology 2Edit
NounEdit
give (plural gives)
- Alternative form of gyve
ReferencesEdit
- give at OneLook Dictionary Search
DanishEdit
Alternative formsEdit
- gi' (representing the spoken language)
EtymologyEdit
From Old Norse gefa, from Proto-Germanic *gebaną, cognate with English give and German geben. The Germanic verbs goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ- (“to give”) (hence Sanskrit गभस्ति (gábhasti, “arm”)) rather than *gʰeh₁bʰ- (“to grab”) (hence Latin habeō (“to have”)).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
give (imperative giv, present tense giver, past tense gav, past participle givet, c given, givne)
- to give
ConjugationEdit
Derived termsEdit
SwedishEdit
VerbEdit
give