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

Phrases

give up the ghost

: to cease to live or function : die

Synonyms

• cede
• cough up
• deliver
• hand over
• lay down
• relinquish
• render
• surrender
• turn in
• turn over
• yield

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

His father worked for Buick for over four decades and his mother was a high school teacher who gave up her job to raise John and his two siblings. —Mike Householder, Fortune, 3 Apr. 2024

Toby Kwon gave up one hit in six innings for Servite. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 3 Apr. 2024

Days later, Jurie gave up her own crown and was also arrested for the incident, though released on bail. —Laura Lane, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024

The risk will probably always be giving up too early, too quickly — but the other risk is taking too long to give up. —Saira Mueller, CNN, 2 Apr. 2024

Mako ultimately gave up her royal status and turned down the lump-sum payment of about $1.3 million that female royals receive when marrying outside the family. —Mithil Aggarwal, NBC News, 1 Apr. 2024

Eventually, the visitors give up and walk back to their silver Nissan SUV. —Hannah Allam, Washington Post, 31 Mar. 2024

Castillo gave up four runs or more in only seven starts a year ago, and only once gave up more than five. —Jack Magruder, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024

Ryan Brasier gave up a two-run double and a sacrifice fly before putting things back in order. —Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register, 30 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

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