give up

verb

gave up; given up; giving up; gives up

transitive verb

1

: to yield control or possession of : surrender

forced to give up his job

2

: to desist from : abandon

refused to give up her efforts

3

: to declare incurable or insoluble

4

a

: to abandon (oneself) to a particular feeling, influence, or activity

gave himself up to despair

b

: to devote to a particular purpose or use

5

: to despair of seeing

we'd given you up

6

: to allow (a hit or run in baseball) while pitching

intransitive verb

: to cease doing or attempting something especially as an admission of defeat : quit

—often used with on

don't give up on the project

see also:

give up the ghost

Synonyms of give up

• relinquish
• surrender
• deliver
• render
• turn in

Examples of give up in a Sentence

was in so much debt he had to give up his house and move into a cheaper apartment

I hope you won't give up playing the piano.

Recent Examples on the Web

Rangers starter Cal Quantrill gave up one run and four hits in five innings, striking out six and walking three. — CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026

Nuñez gave up a home run to Mike Yastrzemski in the seventh, and Austin Riley followed with one of his own, ultimately dooming the Mets. — Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 13 Aug. 2026

Forest have not given up their efforts to sign a more direct replacement for the man who joined Manchester City for £116m in July. — Paul Taylor, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026

Sandoval issued a leadoff walk to George Springer and gave up a single to catcher Alejandro Kirk, and Springer scored on Ernie Clement’s force-out. — Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 12 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for give up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup

Kids Definition

give up

verb

1

: surrender entry 1 sense 1

2

: to abandon (oneself) to a feeling, influence, or activity

3

: stop entry 1 sense 7a