give over

verb

gave over; given over; giving over; gives over

transitive verb

1

: cease

2

: entrust

3

a

: to yield without restraint or control : abandon

gave themselves over to laughter

b

: to set apart for a particular purpose or use

4

archaic : to pronounce incurable

intransitive verb

British : to cease an activity : stop

… told him to give over and let me alone …

—Brendan Behan

Synonyms of give over

• stop
• cease
• end
• halt
• quit
• leave off
• shut off
• cut off
• cut out
• have done with

Examples of give over in a Sentence

his wife suggested that he give over working such long hours if it was making him so unhappy

gave over his entire savings to an investor

Recent Examples on the Web

More screen time is given over to her burgeoning friendship with firebrand suffragette Mary, played by singer Lily Allen in a deliberately anachronistic performance — her forthright speech and manner beamed in directly from the 21st century. —Guy Lodge, Variety, 3 June 2026

That entire entertainment district will be given over to World Cup activities, with restaurants, bars and the market courtyard broadcasting the 104 matches. —Linda Zavoral, Mercury News, 2 June 2026

Passengers sit two to a private booth, behind mashrabiya-style screens, with the rest of the carriage given over to a bar and lounge. —Rebecca Ann Hughes, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026

There is evidence that this tendency, known as the endowment effect, was favored by natural selection when bargains were risky in a pre-modern world, a time when giving over one item, in trade for another, might risk getting nothing at all from an untrustworthy trading partner. —Owen D. Jones, The Conversation, 26 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for give over

• carryover
• changeover
• crossover
• cutover
• flashover
• hangover
• holdover
• layover
• leftover
• makeover
• moreover
• passover