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

• relinquish
• surrender
• render
• deliver
• 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

This season, only three pitchers gave up more home runs than Imanaga’s 31. —Sahadev Sharma, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2025

Instead, the team went on to give up a 15-point lead over the Tennessee Titans and lose the game, 22-21. —Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 7 Oct. 2025

Football began last year with Westgate Christian giving up more than 90 points in one game. —Arkansas Online, 7 Oct. 2025

The Detroit Tigers' Tarik Skubal gave up 2 homers to the Mariners' Jorge Polanco in Game 2 on Sunday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. —Amy Huschka, Freep.com, 6 Oct. 2025

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