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

Two weeks later, Hulst gave up tennis. —Scott M. Reid, Oc Register, 30 May 2026

Justin Wrobleski gives up one hit over seven innings and strikes out nine in the best start of his major league career in the Dodgers’ 4-2 win over Philadelphia. —Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2026

Jordan Hill gave up two hits with a strikeout in 1 2/3 scoreless innings to earn the win. —Bill Center, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 May 2026

By this final season, though, the show had nearly given up on engineering conflicts between the two, positioning them as artistic soul mates and surrogate mother and daughter. —Michael Schulman, New Yorker, 29 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