give up

Definition of give upnext
1
as in to relinquish
to give (something) over to the control or possession of another usually under duress was in so much debt he had to give up his house and move into a cheaper apartment

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

2
3
4
as in to surrender
to give (oneself) over to something especially unrestrainedly even in the darkest days of her troubled marriage, she refused to give herself up to feelings of utter hopelessness

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of give up Fleming replaced Scherzer and gave up Freeman’s two-run home run, a 438-foot drive that also threatened to leave the country. Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 7 Apr. 2026 But with two outs in the fifth, Peralta gave up a hit to Carroll, walked Geraldo Perdomo and plunked Gabriel Moreno to load the bases. Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 7 Apr. 2026 Like [being in] the worst possible circumstances without giving up, without becoming cynical, without putting your head in the sand. James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 7 Apr. 2026 Obviously, don’t want to give up runs, but overall happy with my stuff. Lamond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 7 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for give up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for give up
Verb
  • If the pair are Shea’s biological parents, Score and Mills would like to learn more about them — but not necessarily relinquish custody of Shea, Hatfield said.
    Elizabeth Chuck, NBC news, 3 Apr. 2026
  • In their eyes, the global economy is to blame for their unsatisfactory job prospects, feminism is to blame for their failures with women, minority rights are forcing them to relinquish their privilege as straight men, and so on.
    Miriam Eve Mora, The Conversation, 3 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Administrator Crystal Ruth switches on dozens of heat lamps that radiate a yellow hue to warm at least 80 disabled, abandoned or formerly abused animals that call the rescue home.
    Julian Camejo, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2026
  • It sat abandoned until 1969, when a group of Native American activists occupied the island and remained there for the next two years, according to NPS.
    Noe Padilla, USA Today, 3 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Shepard uses her last ounce of strength to kill the final hitman before succumbing to her injuries.
    Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Elaine Dube succumbed to her injuries and died at UMass Medical Center in Worcester.
    Francie Ebert, NBC news, 1 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Many of those animals are surrendered when their owners can no longer properly care for them, an issue that Alessandro Catenazzi, associate professor of biological science at Florida International University, stressed.
    Julian Camejo, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2026
  • Lukáš Dostál surrendered six goals on 29 shots, with culpability to spread around between him and his defense.
    Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 4 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The Premier League is working in partnership with White Ribbon UK — a charity engaging men and boys about violence against women — and aims to deliver activity that supports gender equality.
    Cerys Jones, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2026
  • One night, Nathan Calvin, a twenty-nine-year-old lawyer who worked at the nonprofit Encode and had helped craft the bill, was at home having dinner with his wife when a process server arrived to deliver a subpoena from OpenAI.
    Ronan Farrow, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • At the Greeley plant, union officials said the company tried to intimidate workers to quit the union in one-on-one meetings, union general counsel Matt Shechter said.
    Katie Langford, Denver Post, 5 Apr. 2026
  • Still, cuts to the airport security agency would come at a critical time for air travel with rising concerns about air safety after more than 500 TSA officers quit in recent weeks and amid a longstanding shortage of air traffic controllers.
    Reuters, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The affidavit also said that a search of Woods yielded two hydrocodone pills in his pant pocket.
    Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Fridley Public Safety said the attack yielded no 911 call, but a community member who saw a post about it on social media contacted police the day after.
    WCCO Staff, CBS News, 1 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • Conservationists celebrated when wolves — which were rendered locally extinct in 1924, the same year that the last grizzly was killed — migrated into the state from Oregon 15 years ago.
    Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Many are rendered in his signature teardrop style, where droplets hold fragments of memory and history.
    Jane Horowitz, Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2026

Cite this Entry

“Give up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/give%20up. Accessed 9 Apr. 2026.

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