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

But some localities are giving up a portion of those payments by offering tax breaks to lure project developers. —Michael Copley, NPR, 14 Oct. 2025

The company is releasing Pop-Tarts Protein starting in early November, Bloomberg reported, with the goal of catering to consumers who want to consume more protein without giving up their favorite snacks. —Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 14 Oct. 2025

But rather than giving up on the complicated plot and letting the rock score by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus of ABBA wash over him, Strong was compelled to do something about it. —Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2025

The Times reported that Fritzl's wife was unaware of the abuse and had believed her daughter had joined a cult and had to give up her children. —Liam Quinn, PEOPLE, 14 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