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

No one ate up more innings than Klein, who struck out two and surrendered one of the two hits the Dodgers gave up across two innings. —Liana Handler, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2026

Waddle, on the other hand, should get a ton of usage as the Broncos gave up a significant amount of draft capital in order to get him. —Steve Bradshaw, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026

Dent, a junior committed to UNLV, gave up five hits with a walk and two strikeouts in six innings. —Martin Henderson, Oc Register, 15 May 2026

Although the Aggies gave up more than 32 points per game on defense, that offense would have kept them in most games, even in the cold. —Scott Dochterman, New York Times, 15 May 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