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)
- (transitive) To surrender (someone or something)
- (transitive) To stop or quit (an activity, etc.)
- They gave up the search when it got dark.
- Synonyms: blin, cease, discontinue
- (transitive) To relinquish (something)
- 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."
- (transitive) To lose hope concerning (someone or something)
- They gave him up for dead.
- (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."
- (intransitive) To admit defeat, capitulate
- OK, I give up, you win.
- Synonyms: capitulate, surrender, wave the white flag
- Become fully taken over by a certain quality, activity, trait, &c.
- 1800s Mary Woody A True Account of Nayomy Wise
- She seems give up to sin
Too much neglecting grace within
- She seems give up to sin
- 1800s Mary Woody A True Account of Nayomy Wise
- (finance, transitive) To execute a trade on behalf of another broker.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
surrender
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stop, quit, desist
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relinquish
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lose hope
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abandon
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admit defeat
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