give up

EnglishEdit

VerbEdit

give up (third-person singular simple present gives up, present participle giving up, simple past gave up, past participle given up)

  1. (transitive) To surrender (someone or something)
    He was surrounded, so gave himself up.
    They gave him up to the police.
    Synonyms: surrender, yield
  2. (transitive) To stop or quit (an activity, etc.)
    They gave up the search when it got dark.
    Synonyms: blin, cease, discontinue
  3. (transitive) To relinquish (something)
    He gave up his seat to an old man.
    Synonyms: forlend, surrender, yield
    • 1816, Jane Austen, chapter 7, in Emma, volume 1:
      "Dear Miss Woodhouse, I would not give up the pleasure and honour of being intimate with you for any thing in the world."
  4. (transitive) To lose hope concerning (someone or something)
    They gave him up for dead.
  5. (transitive) To abandon (someone or something)
    I gave up my faith years ago.
    • 1941 October, “Notes and News: Great Western Parcels Railcar”, in Railway Magazine, page 474:
      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.
    • 1987, Stock Aitken Waterman (lyrics and music), “Never Gonna Give You Up”, in Whenever You Need Somebody, performed by Rick Astley:
      Never gonna give you up / Never gonna let you down / Never gonna run around and desert you
    • 2021 November 3, Adrian Shooter talks to Paul Clifton, “A lifetime of railway achievements”, in RAIL, number 943, page 34:
      "I tried retirement ten years ago. Didn't think much of it. Complete waste of time. So I gave it up after two weeks."
    Synonyms: desert, forlet, forsake
  6. (intransitive) To admit defeat, capitulate
    OK, I give up, you win.
    Synonyms: capitulate, surrender, wave the white flag
  7. Become fully taken over by a certain quality, activity, trait, &c.
  8. (finance, transitive) To execute a trade on behalf of another broker.

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