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

Looking for his first win in seven starts, Twins starter Taj Bradley gave up two hits and one run in five innings while striking out seven. — CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026

Iran is unlikely to give up the leverage offered by having proxies spread across the region, even if some of them have been degraded by Israel or lost a foothold thanks to regime change, as is the case in Syria. — Tim Lister, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026

Despite the setback, Mis Amiguitos doesn’t plan to give up on the garden the students have spent years building. — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 19 Aug. 2026

Mensink, meanwhile, is traveling through Europe and North Africa with nearly no money — unwilling to give up his dream of being a travel vlogger. — Mattha Busby, Rolling Stone, 19 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