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

The Ducks have a -22 scoring differential, with 255 total goals scored and 277 given up. —ABC News, 12 Apr. 2026

Colt Keith had an RBI double in the first and scored on Greene's single off Janson Junk (0-2), who gave up five runs — four earned — and five hits in five innings. —CBS News, 11 Apr. 2026

The life was sucked right out of Citi Field and its home dugout, as Weaver gave up multiple runs for the second outing in a row. —Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 11 Apr. 2026

Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow pitched six innings, struck out seven and gave up four runs on five hits — including two home runs, one of them to former Dodger Corey Seager, whose 409-foot, three-run shot gave Texas a 3-1 lead in the third inning. —Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 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