give

verb

\ ˈgiv

gave\ ˈgāv

\; given\ ˈgi-vən

\; giving

Definition of give

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to make a present of give a doll to a child

2a : to grant or bestow by formal action the law gives citizens the right to vote

b : to accord or yield to another gave him her confidence

3a : to put into the possession of another for his or her use gave me his phone number

b(1) : to administer as a sacrament

(2) : to administer as a medicine

c : to commit to another as a trust or responsibility and usually for an expressed reason

d : to transfer from one's authority or custody the sheriff gave the prisoner to the warden

e : to execute and deliver all employees must give bond

f : to convey to another give them my regards

4a : to offer to the action of another : proffer gave her his hand

b dated, of a woman : to yield (oneself) to a man in sexual intercourse

5a : to present in public performance give a concert

b : to present to view or observation gave the signal to start

6 : to provide by way of entertainment give a party

7 : to propose as a toast

8a : to designate as a share or portion : allot all the earth to thee and to thy race I give— John Milton

b : to make assignment of (a name)

c : to set forth as an actual or hypothetical datum give the dimensions of the room

d : to attribute in thought or utterance : ascribe gave the credit to you

9a : to yield as a product, consequence, or effect : produce cows give milk 84 divided by 12 gives 7

b : to bring forth : bear

10a : to yield possession of by way of exchange : pay

b : to dispose of for a price : sell

11a : to deliver by some bodily action gave him a push

b : to carry out (a movement, facial expression, etc.) gave a cynical smile

c : to inflict as punishment

d : to award by formal verdict judgment was given against the plaintiff

12 : to offer for consideration, acceptance, or use gives no reason for his absence

13a : to suffer the loss of : sacrifice gallantly gave his life for his country

b : to offer as appropriate or due especially to something higher or more worthy gave his spirit to God

c : to apply freely or fully : devote gave themselves to their work

d : to offer as a pledge I give you my word

14a : to cause one to have or receive mountains always gave him pleasure

b : to cause a person to catch by contagion, infection, or exposure

15a : to allow one to have or take give me time

b : to lead or attempt to lead —used with an infinitive you gave me to understand you'd be late

16 : to care to the extent of didn't give a hoot

intransitive verb

1 : to make gifts or presents gave generously to charities

2a : to yield to physical force or strain

b : to collapse from the application of force or pressure The canvas chair gave under her weight.

c : to undergo or submit to change for the strike to be settled, something has to give

3 : to afford a view or passage : open the window gives onto the terrace

4 : to enter wholeheartedly into an activity

5 slang : to be happening wants to know what gives

give birth

: to have a baby gave birth last Thursday

give birth to

1 : to produce as offspring gave birth to a son

2 : to be the source of

give chase

: to set off in pursuit

give ground

: to withdraw before superior force : retreat

give of

: to make available : provide generously freely gave of their time

give or take

: as an estimate accurate within (an amount to be added or subtracted) weighs 150 pounds, give or take a few pounds

give place to

: to be replaced or succeeded by optimism gave place to worry

give rise to

: to be the cause or source of : produce

give the gun

: to open the throttle of : speed up

give the lie to

1 : to accuse of falsehood

2 : to show to be false, inaccurate, or invalid

give tongue

of hounds : to begin barking on the scent

give way

1a : retreat

b : to yield the right of way

2 : to yield oneself without restraint or control

3a : to yield to or as if to physical stress The roof gave way under heavy snow.

b : to yield to entreaty or insistence After several hours of debate, the opposition finally gave way.

4 : to yield place Farmland has given way to shopping malls.

5 : to begin to row

give

noun

Definition of give (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : capacity or tendency to yield to force or strain : flexibility

2 : the ability of a material to bend or stretch The knitted fabric has a lot of give to it.

Other Words from give Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about give

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Choose the Right Synonym for give

Verb

give, present, donate, bestow, confer, afford mean to convey to another as a possession. give, the general term, is applicable to any passing over of anything by any means. give alms gave her a ride on a pony give my love to your mother present carries a note of formality and ceremony. present an award donate is likely to imply a publicized giving (as to charity). donate a piano to the orphanage bestow implies the conveying of something as a gift and may suggest condescension on the part of the giver. bestow unwanted advice confer implies a gracious giving (as of a favor or honor). confer an honorary degree afford implies a giving or bestowing usually as a natural or legitimate consequence of the character of the giver. the trees afford shade a development that affords us some hope

Verb

give, present, and donate mean to hand over to someone without looking for a return. give can be used of anything that is delivered in any way. Please give me your coat. I gave a friend a gift. present is used when something is given with some ceremony. They presented a trophy to the winner. donate is used for giving to a charity. Some kind person donated the toys.

Examples of give in a Sentence

Verb

She gave him a camera for Christmas. Are you giving this to me or only lending it? She has given money to many worthy causes. They're asking people to give money for a new hospital. Please give to our charity. We already gave at the office. It is better to give than to receive. He gave me the letter. He gave her his coat to hold. He gave me a head start.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Janes concluded the strike was likely from a mobile vehicle, given the US contention the missile was launched from 70 kilometers away, and there is no Iranian facility matching that location. — Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, "What shooting down a $110M US drone tells us about Iran," 25 June 2019 Examples the researchers generated including a video of Rasputin singing a Beyoncé song and a snippet of Albert Einstein giving a lecture. — Samantha Oltman, Vox, "Recode Daily: Soon you might know exactly how much you’re worth to Facebook," 24 June 2019 The decision to stifle a would-be protest is frustrating to some employees, who see it as especially ironic given YouTube’s dedication to free speech. — Megan Farokhmanesh, The Verge, "Google warns its employees that Pride protests are against the company’s code of conduct," 24 June 2019 Many current and former prisoners have said that working behind bars gives otherwise empty days a sense of meaning — and the meager wages go further when your housing, food, and health care are all (or mostly) paid for by the state. — Teen Vogue, "These Massachusetts Student Journalists Exposed Their High School’s Use of Prison Labor," 24 June 2019 But his latest post seems rather ironic, given that the drama that essentially took down the Celtics this season seemed to center around Irving’s ego. — Troy L. Smith, cleveland.com, "Kyrie Irving finds new way to annoy Boston Celtics fans," 24 June 2019 Sanders is proposing to pay for these plans with a tax on Wall Street his campaign says will raise more than $2 trillion over 10 years, though some tax experts give lower revenue estimates. — al.com, "Bernie Sanders: Eliminate all $1.6 trillion in student loan debt," 24 June 2019 The Charter Schools Act does not define the phrase ‘consistent with sound educational practice,’ giving a governing board broad discretion when considering this element. — Kristen Taketa, San Diego Union-Tribune, "Dehesa School District profited by cultivating charter schools," 23 June 2019 The conference bylaws require UConn to pay a $10 million withdrawal fee and give 27 months' notice before leaving. — Cincinnati.com, "AP sources: UConn in talks to leave American Athletic Conference, move back into Big East," 23 June 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Jetsetter, the travel website, recently compiled its give-you-the-feels bucket list of the 24 Most Beautiful Places in the World. — Jessica Yadegaran, The Mercury News, "Travel: Jetsetter’s top 10 most beautiful places in the world," 8 July 2019 Each side gave up, and each side got, as part of the give-and-take of labor-management bargaining that has occurred over the last decade. — Michael Mccann, SI.com, "Why Kawhi Leonard's Move to L.A. Shows NBA Superstars Don't Call the Shots," 6 July 2019 This clearly wouldn’t have been an easy situation for anyone hired to rein in Hinkie, and whose arrival led the former general manager to vacate in a give-me-liberty-or-give-me-lecturing-at-Stanford move that deeply divided the fan base. — Bob Ford, Philly.com, "Hard to see how Bryan Colangelo survives his Sixers Twittergate | Bob Ford," 30 May 2018 The disparity between how much visitors pay for this allegedly authentic Indian experience and how little slum dwellers survive on gives cause for some pause. — Ephrat Livni, Quartzy, "Slum tours beat the Taj Mahal as India’s most popular “experience”," 25 June 2019 But there’s a tricky give-and-take there for the Warriors. — Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, "Kurtenbach: The 3 big things to watch in Game 3 of the NBA Finals," 5 June 2019 Senator Collins was asserting that even by the enormously flexible standards of American political give-and-take, the case against Judge Kavanaugh had gone too far. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "Susan Collins Consents," 5 Oct. 2018 This kind of give-and-take, however, can also leave people exposed. — Alex Finley - Center For Public Integrity, Vox, "Trump got the National Enquirer to bury his secrets. Did he do the same with Putin?," 21 Dec. 2018 These acts go well beyond the normal democratic give and take, where parties battle over the rules of elections at the margins. — Zack Beauchamp, Vox, "The Republican Party versus democracy," 17 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'give.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.