give

verb, noun — 29 senses

give

verb

/ˈɡɪv/ · [ˈɡɪv]

Etymology

From Middle English given, yeven, yiven, ȝiven, from merger of Old English ġefan, ġeofan, ġiefan, ġifan, ġiofan, ġyfan (“to give”) and Old Norse gefa (“to give”), from Proto-Germanic *gebaną (“to give”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ- (“to give; to take”). Displaced yive, from Middle English yiven, of the same origin, from influence of Old Norse gefa. Cognates Cognate with Yola gee, ye, yie, yive (“to give”), Scots gie (“to give”), North Frisian gjiuwe, iiv, jiiw, jiw, jeewe (“to give”), West Frisian jaan (“to give”), Alemannic German gë (“to give”), Bavarian gebn (“to give”), Central Franconian jevve (“to give”), Cimbrian gem, ghèban (“to give”), Dutch geven (“to give”), German geben (“to give”), Luxembourgish ginn (“to give”), Vilamovian gaon (“to give”), Yiddish געבן (gebn, “to give”), Danish give (“to give”), Elfdalian djävå (“to give”), Faroese geva (“to give”), Icelandic gefa (“to give”), Norwegian Bokmål gi (“to give”), Norwegian Nynorsk gi, giva, gje, gjeva, gjeve (“to give”), Swedish ge, gifva, giva (“to give”), Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (giban, “to give”); also Greek κεφάλι (kefáli), κεφαλή (kefalí, “head”), Lithuanian gobti (“cover up; to grab, snatch”), Polish gabać (“to touch; to tap; to accost”), Serbo-Croatian ха̏бати, hȁbati (“to abrade, wear out”), Sanskrit गभस्ति (gabhasti, “shining”).

28 senses
  1. 1To transfer one's possession or holding of (something)…
  2. 2To make a present or gift of.
  3. 3To pledge.
  4. 4To provide (something) to (someone), to allow or afford.
  5. 5To cause (a sensation or feeling) to exist in (the…
  6. 6To give off (a certain vibe or appearance). (Compare giving.)
  7. 7To carry out (a physical interaction) with (something).
  8. 8To pass (something) into (someone's hand, etc.).
  9. 9To cause (a disease or condition) in, or to transmit (a…
  10. 10To provide or administer (a medication).
  11. 11To present someone to an audience.
  12. 12To propose someone for a toast, used in standard…
  13. 13To provide, as, a service or a broadcast.
  14. 14To estimate or predict (a duration or probability) for…
  15. 15To yield or collapse under pressure or force.
  16. 16To lead (onto or into).
  17. 17To provide a view of.
  18. 18To exhibit as a product or result; to produce; to yield.
  19. 19To cause; to make; used with the infinitive.
  20. 20To cause (someone) to have; produce in (someone); effectuate.
  21. 21To allow or admit by way of supposition; to concede.
  22. 22To attribute; to assign; to adjudge.
  23. 23To communicate or announce (advice, tidings, etc.); to…
  24. 24To grant power, permission, destiny, etc. (especially to…
  25. 25To devote or apply (oneself).
  26. 26To become soft or moist.
  27. 27To shed tears; to weep.
  28. 28To have a misgiving.

› To move, shift, provide something abstract…

1

To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone).

  • I gave him my coat.
  • I gave my coat to the beggar.
1 more example
  • When they asked, I gave my coat.
2

To make a present or gift of.

  • I'm going to give my wife a necklace for her birthday.
  • She gave a pair of shoes to her husband for their anniversary.
3

To pledge.

  • I gave him my word that I'd protect his children.
4

To provide (something) to (someone), to allow or afford.

  • I gave them permission to miss tomorrow's class.
  • Please give me some more time.
5

To cause (a sensation or feeling) to exist in (the specified person, or the target, audience, etc.).

  • It gives me a lot of pleasure to be here tonight.
  • The fence gave me an electric shock.
4 more examples
  • My mother-in-law gives me nothing but grief.
  • it's giving me bad vibes — It's giving me old Hollywood (vibes)
  • The slow flutter of his vibrato gives a melancholy tinge to the proceedings.2014, Donna Soto-Morettini, Popular Singing and Style, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 221:
  • "The outfit is giving me eighties fitness video vibes, but you wear it well."2023 February 21, Lakita Wilson, Last Chance Dance, Penguin, →ISBN, page 81:
6

Slang To give off (a certain vibe or appearance). (Compare giving.)

  • it's giving old Hollywood (vibes)
  • Stop texting me! It's giving "desperate", honestly.
4 more examples
  • [subtitle:] It's giving Wednesday Addams at the salon...2022 October 25, Medina Azaldin, ELLE Beauty Team, “30 Halloween Nail Art Trends To Get You In The Mood For Trick Or Treat”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name):
  • It's giving old Hollywood2023 May 30, Sophie Williams, “Kylie Jenner is giving Marilyn Monroe vibes in her latest Instagram post”, in Cosmopolitan, New York, N.Y.: Hearst Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Sep 2023:
  • Your outfit is giving more romance than bloodshed. Are you currently in love?2023 June 12, Wilson Wong, “Gov Ball Raves on in Pink, Amid Rain and Smoke”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Jun 2023:
  • This outfit gives 'college girl that knows what she's doing' and even though I am the furthest from that, I'll take it.2023 July 20, Rachel Krause, quoting Gabby Ragsdale, “4 Students On The Back-To-School Outfits They're Shopping Their Closets For”, in Refinery29, archived from the original on 10 Sep 2023:
7

To carry out (a physical interaction) with (something).

  • I want to give you a kiss and a hug.
  • As mom gave us a long look, I gave a sigh and my sister gave a laugh.
4 more examples
  • I'd like to give the tire a kick.
  • I gave the boy a push on the swing.
  • She gave me a wink afterwards, so I knew she was joking.
  • Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway,[…].1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 68:
8

To pass (something) into (someone's hand, etc.).

  • Give me your hand.
  • On entering the house, he gave his coat to the doorman.
9

To cause (a disease or condition) in, or to transmit (a disease or condition) to.

  • My boyfriend gave me chlamydia.
  • He was convinced that it was his alcoholism that gave him cancer.
1 more example
  • Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.a. 1700 (date written), William Temple, “Heads, Designed for an Essay on Conversation”, in Miscellanea. The Third Part. […], London: […] Jonathan Swift, […] Benjamin Tooke, […], published 1701, →OCLC, page 331:
10

To provide or administer (a medication).

  • The doctors gave me morphine for the pain.
11

To present someone to an audience.

  • Playing for us tonight, I give you The Beatles!
  • Ladies and gentlemen of Rotary, I give you our president, Bill Robbins.1975, I.W. Parrish, Sixty-Sixth Annual Convention of Rotary International, Rotary International, page 54:
1 more example
  • "Ladies and gentlemen... I give you... 'The Beatles'!..." announced Ed Sullivan above the screaming fans.2008 September 8, Stuart P. Coates, Norma Jeane's Wishes in Time: (A Four Part Adventure), iUniverse, →ISBN, page 30:
12

To propose someone for a toast, used in standard formulations for toasts.

  • On this happy evening, I give you the bride and groom!
  • "I give you the bride: the new Baroness of Kilshane. May her life with her bold new baron be long and happy and fruitful." He lifted his cup. "To the bride!"2001 July 1, Katherine Kurtz, King Kelson's Bride, Penguin, →ISBN, page 19:
2 more examples
  • CORTEZ (raising whiskey glass) I give you President Lyndon Johnson. ONO: You can keep him. (They all knock back the whiskey, slam down the glasses. SAM pours again.)2008, Chris Dickerson, Deadline, Original Works Publishing, →ISBN, page 22:
  • "Sir Thomas," Malone said, "I give you Her Majesty, the Queen!" "To the Queen!" Boyd echoed. They downed their drinks and turned, as one man, to hurl the glasses into the wastebasket.2014 June 13, Gordon Randall Garrett, Supermind, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:
13

To provide, as, a service or a broadcast.

  • They're giving my favorite show!
  • We hope that the need to "give good e-mail" in response to questions from clients and potential clients will in fact induce firms to get serious about storing and reusing their expertise – and even become open to tailoring […]1993, Business Law Today:
4 more examples
  • […]who did not have a culture in which 'giving good presentation' and successfully playing the internal political game was the way up.2003, Iain Aitken, Value-Driven IT Management: Commercializing the IT Function, page 153:
  • A friendly voice on the phone welcoming prospective new clients is a must. Don't underestimate the importance of giving good "phone".2006, Christopher Matthew Spencer, The Ebay Entrepreneur, page 248:
  • Social skills are required to meet new people in a chat room and maintain contact over time (“Do you give good e-mail?”). The Internet provides people with an opportunity to reinvent or misrepresent themselves.2012 January 1, George Zinkan, Advertising Research: The Internet, Consumer Behavior, and Strategy, Marketing Classics Press, →ISBN, page 28:
  • He gives good face too, posing for the camera with hands on waist, eyes forward, legs crossed (Fig. 4.1).2016 November 25, Gabrielle Jamela Hosein, Lisa Outar, Indo-Caribbean Feminist Thought: Genealogies, Theories, Enactments, Springer, →ISBN, page 54:
14

To estimate or predict (a duration or probability) for (something).

  • I give it ten minutes before he gives up.
  • I'd give it a 95% chance of success.
1 more example
  • I'll give their marriage six months.
15

To yield or collapse under pressure or force.

  • One pillar gave, then more, and suddenly the whole floor pancaked onto the floor below.
  • A soldier noticed how earth "gave" as he walked over the shallow trenches.1992, Garry Wills, “prologue”, in Lincoln at Gettysburg, page 21:
16

To lead (onto or into).

  • The master bedroom gives onto a spacious balcony.
  • Beyond the stile stands an attractive row of riverside trees – alder, hazel, beech, hawthorn and ash. Go across to the far corner of a field, where a through-stile gives onto a small, lightly wooded hill,[…]2022 February 3, Terry Marsh, Walking the Dales Way: Ilkley to Bowness-on-Windermere through the Yorkshire Dales, Cicerone Press Limited, →ISBN:
17

Dated To provide a view of.

  • His window gave the park.
  • Columbus dwellers of Woodland Meadow Apts may not find themselves in a perfectly bucolic setting, as the residential complex gives onto a military defense logistics ground.2006, Pierre Lagayette, Nature et progrès: interactions, exclusions, mutations, Presses Paris Sorbonne, →ISBN, page 61:
18

To exhibit as a product or result; to produce; to yield.

  • The number of men, divided by the number of ships, gives four hundred to each ship.
19

To cause; to make; used with the infinitive.

  • But there the duke was given to understand / That in a gondola were seen together / Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica.c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene viii], page 171:
20

To cause (someone) to have; produce in (someone); effectuate.

  • "Can do" gives me a choice, while "should do" gives me a complex.1997, Jim Smoke, How a Man Measures Success, page 82:
21

To allow or admit by way of supposition; to concede.

  • He can be bad-tempered, I'll give you that, but he's a hard worker.
  • I give not heaven for lost.1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
22

To attribute; to assign; to adjudge.

  • I don't wonder at people giving him to me for a lover.1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, page 6:
23

To communicate or announce (advice, tidings, etc.); to pronounce or utter (an opinion, a judgment, a shout, etc.).

  • The umpire finally gave his decision: the ball was out.
24

Lifestyle, Religion Dated To grant power, permission, destiny, etc. (especially to a person); to allot; to allow.

  • These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 12:1:
  • once again 'Tis given me to behold my friend.1700, Nicholas Rowe, The Ambitious Stepmother, page 13:
1 more example
  • Then give thy friend to shed the sacred wine.1725, Homer, “Book III”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:
25

To devote or apply (oneself).

  • The soldiers give themselves to plunder.
  • That boy is given to fits of bad temper.
26

Obsolete To become soft or moist.

  • Some moyst weather hath‥caused the powder to give and danke.1590, John Smyth, A Discourse […] concerning […] weapons:
27

Obsolete To shed tears; to weep.

  • Whose eyes do never give / But through lust and laughter.c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 94:
28

Obsolete To have a misgiving.

  • My mind gives ye're reserv'd / To rob poor market women.c. 1608-1634, John Webster, Appius and Virginia, page 16
Synonyms
27 termsaccord, add, assign, award, bestow, bequeath, confer, contribute, deliver, do, donate, furnish, give, give away, grant, hand, hand in, hand over, make over, minister, pass, present, provide, render, supply, turn in, turn over
Antonyms
receive, take
Derived terms
281 termsbegive, don't give me that, don't give up the day job, don't give up your day job, fore-give, foregive, forgive, forthgive, gavel, givable, give 110%, give a bad name, give about, give a bugger, give a crap, give a damn, give a darn, give a dog a bad name and hang him, give a fig, give a flying fuck, give a flying shit, give a fuck, give against, give a goddamn, give a good account of oneself, give a good damn, give a good goddamn, give a gun, give a hang, give a hoot, give a hundred percent, give a jackstraw, give a knee, give ale, give a light, give a loose, give a man a fish, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, give a monkey's, give-and-go, give-and-take, give and take, give an eye-tooth, give an inch, give a rats, give a rat's arse, give a rat's ass, give a rip, give as good as one gets, give a shit, give a shite, give a sneck posset, give a stuff, give a tinker's cuss, give a tinker's damn, give a tin shit, give a toss, give-away, give away, give-away shop, give away the farm, give away the store, give back, give battle, give birth, give blood, give brain, give by, give chance to, give chase, give credit, give credit where credit is due, give cry, give curry, give dap, give dome, givee, give ear, give face, give forth, give gray hair to, give grey hair to, give ground, give hat, give head, give heed, give in, give into, give it a break, give it a red-hot crack, give it a rest, give it large, give it mouth, give it one's all, give it one's best shot, give it socks, give it some welly, give it the big one, give it the gun, give it to someone, give it up, give it up for, give lie to, give life to, give lip, give me, give me a break, give me strength, given, give name to, give neck, giveness, give notice, give off, give of oneself, give one a yell, give one enough rope, give one's all, give one's best, give one's daughter away, give oneself airs, give one's eye-teeth, give one's head a shake, give one's left nut, give one's notice, give one's right arm, give one's word, give one the lie in one's throat, give on to, give or take, give out, give out stink, give over, give pause, give paw, give place, give pursuit, give rise to, give somebody time, give someone a bell, give someone a bloody nose, give someone a break, give someone a buzz, give someone a chance, give someone a hand, give someone a hard time, give someone a jingle, give someone a kiss, give someone a lift, give someone an earful, give someone an inch and he'll take a yard, give someone an inch and someone will take a mile, give someone a piece of one's mind, give someone a ring, give someone a shout, give someone a speaking to, give someone ass cancer, give someone beans, give someone butt cancer, give someone enough rope, give someone enough rope and they'll hang themself, give someone five, give someone goss, give someone gray hair, give someone grey hair, give someone grief, give someone Hail Columbia, give someone hell, give someone his cards, give someone his gruel, give someone his hat, give someone his head, give someone his head on a plate, give someone his head on a platter, give someone Jesse, give someone Jessie, give someone line, give someone one, give someone something to think about, give someone the air, give someone the arm, give someone the bag, give someone the boot, give someone the brush-off, give someone the business, give someone the chair, give someone the cold shoulder, give someone the creeps, give someone the eye, give someone the gears, give someone the heave-ho, give someone their cards, give someone their flowers, give someone their gruel, give someone their hat, give someone their head, give someone the lie in their throat, give someone the mitten, give someone the old heave-ho, give someone the runaround, give someone the shits, give someone the slip, give someone the time, give someone the time of day, give someone time, give someone to understand, give someone what for, give someone what-for, give someone wood, give some skin, give something a go, give something a lash, give something a miss, give something a shot, give something a try, give something a whirl, give something up as a bad job, give stick, give suck, give thanks, give the axe, give the bird, give the devil his due, give the dirts, give the elbow, give the finger, give the fingers, give the floor, give the game away, give the go-by, give the lie, give the lie to, give them an inch and they'll take a mile, give them an inch and they'll take an ell, give the mitten to, give the royal treatment, give the sack, give the stem, give the store away, give the time of day, give the word, give thought, give toco, give tongue, give to understand, give two fucks, give two hoots, give two shits, give two squirts, give two squirts of piss, give up, give up the ghost, give vent to, give voice, give way, give way sign, give weight, give what for, give with one hand and take away with the other, givey, give your head a wobble, give zero fucks, giving, God doesn't give with both hands, it is better to give than to receive, misgive, not give much for someone's chances, one must give to get, outgive, overgive, refer someone to the reply given in Arkell v Pressdram, regive, something's got to give, stand up and give it to him, thanksgive, ungive, upgive, what gives?, would give a Jew's eye, you only get what you give
Related terms
giver, bestowal
Hypernyms
transfer
Hyponyms
26 termsallow, afford, bribe, communicate, consign, distribute, endow, entrust, help, impart, lavish, lend, offer, pay, return, sacrifice, spare, spend, tip, vest, leave, devise, cede, yield, part with, shed

give

noun
Etymology

From Middle English given, yeven, yiven, ȝiven, from merger of Old English ġefan, ġeofan, ġiefan, ġifan, ġiofan, ġyfan (“to give”) and Old Norse gefa (“to give”), from Proto-Germanic *gebaną (“to give”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ- (“to give; to take”). Displaced yive, from Middle English yiven, of the same origin, from influence of Old Norse gefa. Cognates Cognate with Yola gee, ye, yie, yive (“to give”), Scots gie (“to give”), North Frisian gjiuwe, iiv, jiiw, jiw, jeewe (“to give”), West Frisian jaan (“to give”), Alemannic German gë (“to give”), Bavarian gebn (“to give”), Central Franconian jevve (“to give”), Cimbrian gem, ghèban (“to give”), Dutch geven (“to give”), German geben (“to give”), Luxembourgish ginn (“to give”), Vilamovian gaon (“to give”), Yiddish געבן (gebn, “to give”), Danish give (“to give”), Elfdalian djävå (“to give”), Faroese geva (“to give”), Icelandic gefa (“to give”), Norwegian Bokmål gi (“to give”), Norwegian Nynorsk gi, giva, gje, gjeva, gjeve (“to give”), Swedish ge, gifva, giva (“to give”), Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (giban, “to give”); also Greek κεφάλι (kefáli), κεφαλή (kefalí, “head”), Lithuanian gobti (“cover up; to grab, snatch”), Polish gabać (“to touch; to tap; to accost”), Serbo-Croatian ха̏бати, hȁbati (“to abrade, wear out”), Sanskrit गभस्ति (gabhasti, “shining”).

1

The amount of bending that something undergoes when a force is applied to it; a tendency to yield under pressure; resilience.

  • This chair doesn't have much give.
  • There is no give in his dogmatic religious beliefs.
1 more example
  • The striker's job was onerous, too, because there was so little "give" in the metal, and the perpetual jarring was indeed trying to the muscles.1945 January and February, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 13:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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