Definition of give in English English dictionary
- To transfer the possession or holding of (something to someone or something else)
- The amount of bending that something undergoes when a force is applied to it
This chair doesn't have much give.
- To provide, as, a service or a broadcast
A friendly voice on the phone welcoming prospective new clients is a must. Don't underestimate the importance of giving good phone.
- To estimate or predict (a duration or probability for something)
I'll give their marriage six months.''.
- To bend slightly when a force is applied
- {v} to bestow, deliver, pay, grant, yield, resign, apply
- To allow or admit by way of supposition
- to pronounce; to render or utter, as an opinion, a judgment, a sentence, a shout, etc
- be flexible under stress of physical force; "This material doesn't give"
- To set forth as a known quantity or a known relation, or as a premise from which to reason; used principally in the passive form given
- To excite or cause to exist, as a sensation; as, to give offense; to give pleasure or pain
- consent to engage in sexual intercourse with a man; "She gave herself to many men"
- execute and deliver; "Give bond"
- give (as medicine); "I gave him the drug"
- To communicate or announce, as advice, tidings, etc
- occur; "what gives?"
- submit for consideration, judgment, or use; "give one's opinion"; "give an excuse"
- bestow; "give hommage"; "render thanks"
- To attribute; to assign; to adjudge
- To yield; to furnish; to produce; to emit; as, flint and steel give sparks
- give food to; "Feed the starving children in India"; "don't give the child this tough meat"
- To yield possesion of; to deliver over, as property, in exchange for something; to pay; as, we give the value of what we buy
- deliver in exchange or recompense; "I'll give you three books for four CDs"
- To pledge; as, to give one's word
- To open; to lead
- organize or be responsible for; "hold a reception"; "have, throw, or make a party"; "give a course"
- the ability of a material or substance to bend or stretch when put under pressure
- convey, as of a compliment, regards, attention, etc ; bestow; "Don't pay him any mind"; "give the orders"; "Give him my best regards"; "pay attention"
- Slang: to hypothesize as a basis for planning the play or defense as in a situation of discussing the post mortum of a certain hand: "Give North the Queen of Spades, then "
- break down, literally or metaphorically; "The wall collapsed"; "The business collapsed"; "The dam broke"; "The roof collapsed"; "The wall gave in"; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice"
- To exhibit as a product or result; to produce; to show; as, the number of men, divided by the number of ships, gives four hundred to each ship
- perform for an audience; "Pollini is giving another concert in New York"
- cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense; "She gave him a black eye"; "The draft gave me a cold"
- legal use: accord by verdict; "give a decision for the plaintiff"
- To transfer, yield or bestow something of value to another
- To yield to force or pressure; to relax; to become less rigid; as, the earth gives under the feet
- bestow; "Don't pay him any mind"; "give the orders"; "Give him my best regards"; "pay attention" bestow; "give hommage"; "render thanks" legal use: accord by verdict; "give a decision for the plaintiff" propose; "He gave the first of many toasts at the birthday party" be flexible under stress of physical force; "This material doesn't give" bring about; "His two singles gave the team the victory" perform for an audience; "Pollini is giving another concert in New York" present to view; "He gave the sign to start" transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody; "I gave her my money"; "can you give me lessons?"; "She gave the children lots of love and tender loving care" leave with; give temporarily; "Can I give you my keys while I go in the pool?"; "Can I give you the children for the weekend?" give as a present; make a gift of; "What will you give her for her birthday?" convey or reveal information; "Give one's name" give or convey physically; "She gave him First Aid"; "I gave him a punch in the nose" give (as medicine); "I gave him the drug" cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense; "She gave him a black eye"; "The draft gave me a cold" deliver in exchange or recompense; "I'll give you three books for four CDs" emit or utter; "Give a gulp"; "give a yelp" execute and deliver; "Give bond
- bay, ban
- To grant power or license to; to permit; to allow; to license; to commission
- To shed tears; to weep
- To give a gift or gifts
- give or convey physically; "She gave him First Aid"; "I gave him a punch in the nose"
- endure the loss of; "He gave his life for his children"; "I gave two sons to the war"
- present to view; "He gave the sign to start"
- afford access to; "the door opens to the patio"; "The French doors give onto a terrace"
- To devote; to apply; used reflexively, to devote or apply one's self; as, the soldiers give themselves to plunder; also in this sense used very frequently in the past participle; as, the people are given to luxury and pleasure; the youth is given to study
- give as a present; make a gift of; "What will you give her for her birthday?"
- estimate the duration or outcome of something; "He gave the patient three months to live"; "I gave him a very good chance at success"
- give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause; "She committed herself to the work of God"; "give one's talents to a good cause"; "consecrate your life to the church"
- bring about; "His two singles gave the team the victory"
- place into the hands or custody of; "hand me the spoon, please"; "Turn the files over to me, please"; "He turned over the prisoner to his lawyers"
- convey, as of a compliment, regards, attention, etc
- bestow; "Don't pay him any mind"; "give the orders"; "Give him my best regards"; "pay attention"
- bring about; "The trompe l'oeil-illusion establishes depth"
- {i} elasticity, flexibility, ability to yield
- To bestow without receiving a return; to confer without compensation; to impart, as a possession; to grant, as authority or permission; to yield up or allow
- {f} bestow; deliver; donate; produce; be convinced, weaken, yield; do, provide, host (a party, etc.)
- vt memberi (beri)
- leave with; give temporarily; "Can I give you my keys while I go in the pool?"; "Can I give you the children for the weekend?"
- propose; "He gave the first of many toasts at the birthday party"
- give or supply; "The cow brings in 5 liters of milk"; "This year's crop yielded 1,000 bushels of corn"; "The estate renders some revenue for the family"
- convey or reveal information; "Give one's name"
- emit or utter; "Give a gulp"; "give a yelp"
- dar
- proffer (a body part); "She gave her hand to her little sister"
- the elasticity of something that can be stretched and returns to its original length
- be the cause or source of; "He gave me a lot of trouble"; "Our meeting afforded much interesting information"
- allow to have or take; "I give you two minutes to respond"
- guide or direct, as by behavior of persuasion; "You gave me to think that you agreed with me"
- To move; to recede
- give 110%
- Make the maximum possible effort
This is a very important game, and the only way we'll win is if every one of you gives 110% out there on the pitch.
- give a bad name
- To cause people to lose respect, reverence or esteem for something or someone
- give a blowjob
- To fellate, to suck a penis or other phallic object
- give a damn
- To look after
Young children can learn to give a damn about a pet.
- give a damn
- To be concerned about, have an interest in, to care about
Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.
- give a flying fuck
- to care whatsoever (mostly used in the negative)
I don't give a flying fuck about how many laps I can run in 20 minutes, I'm more interested in something over there.
- give a fuck
- to care
You can tell by all the crippled soldiers coming back that Bush really doesn't give a fuck, because they only needed a little more armor on their humvees.
- give a gun
- To order a gun to be fired; sometimes construed with dative (or to), implying that it is done as an honor, as a help (occasionally as a hostile demonstration)
- give a hundred percent
- to commit oneself totally to something; to do one's utmost
- give a light
- To care
Don’t you give a light for the hell you’ve made?.
- give a loose
- To give vent (to), to let loose (unrestrained feelings, emotions etc.)
There I began to breathe a little freer, and to give a loose to those warm emotions which the sight of such an encounter had raised in me.
- give a man a fish
- Shortened form of 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 man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed h
- It is more worthwhile to teach someone to do something, than to do something for them
- give a monkey's
- Care whatsoever; give a toss; give two hoots
- give a person line
- to allow a person more or less liberty until it is convenient to stop or check him/her, like a hooked fish that swims away with the line
- give a rat's arse
- To care, to have or to show an interest
I just don't give a rat's arse!.
- give a ring
- Call (someone) on the telephone
If you're town, give me a ring and I'll arrange to meet up with you.
- give a shit
- To care, to have or to show an interest
I just don't give a shit!.
- give a shite
- To care; mind; consider important
I'd carry a sandwichboard only the girl in the office told me they're full up for the next three weeks, man. God, you've to book ahead, man, you'd think it was for the Carl Rosa. I don't give a shite anyway so long as I get a job, even as a crossing sweeper.
- give a sneck posset
- To fasten the door latch
- give a sneck posset
- To give someone a cold reception; to close the door on someone; to reject them
- give a toss
- Care; mind; give two hoots; give a shit
- give about
- to encompass or surround something
- give about
- to spread a rumour
- give about
- to distribute or circulate something
- give against
- to attack or assault someone or something
- give against
- to impinge against something
- give an eye-tooth
- Alternative form of give one's eye-teeth
How his frownHath scatter'd them like leaves! they fly from himAs nimbly as their bodies had no more weightThan their petitions. I would give an eye-tooth,To read but three lines.
- give and take
- A process of compromise or accommodation
They hoped for a solution, but both knew it would require some give and take.
- give as good as one gets
- To behave toward others in a manner resembling or commensurate with their behavior towards oneself, especially in a situation where one is insulted or otherwise ill-treated
The Foreign Correspondents Association's annual banquet last week turned into an angry slanging match. Botha gave as good as he got. I am sick and tired of a lot of foreign representatives descending on my country and picking up on all the dirty work instead of all the beauty, promise and goodwill, Botha said.
- give away
- To make a gift of (something)
I didn't like that book, so I gave it away.
- give away
- To relinquish control over
It was a risk: Editors like to control magazine content .
- give away
- To unintentionally reveal a secret, or expose someone
He gave away his hiding place when he accidentally sneezed.
- give away
- To concede an advantage in weight, time, height etc
Despite giving away twenty pounds in weight, the challenger found a knock-out blow in the second round.
- give away
- To formally hand over a bride to the bridegroom; often by her father
Who giveth away this woman to this man in Holy matrimony?.
- give away the store
- To transact, trade, or negotiate badly, by paying, providing, or conceding too much to the other party
Bush's tax plan offers next to nothing to average Americans, while giving away the store to multimillionaires, said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid.
- give back
- To contribute money, goods, or, especially, services for charitable purposes, as if in return for one's own success
We organize this Thanksgiving dinner at the old-age home to give back to the community.
- give back
- To return, restore (a thing to its original owner or location etc.)
Give me back my book!.
- give birth
- To become the female parent of
She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.
- give birth
- To release live offspring from the body into the environment
It was clear that she was about to give birth.
- give birth
- To become the source of
Einstein gave birth to a famous equation relating energy to mass.
- give by
- to stand aside
- give chase
- To chase or pursue a person
After the robbery, the police gave chase but didn't catch the suspect.
- give cry
- To cry out
- give cry
- To give full pursuit; chase after
The journalists gave cry after the Prince, like a pack of hounds when they strike the trail of a fox.
- give curry
- to direct abusive language at (someone) angrily
- give ear
- To listen: to devote one's attention to an auditory event
All these fall, and my soul gives ear.
- give face
- To confront
- give face
- To honor; to pay respect
- give forth
- To emit or release something
The chimney gave forth a cloud of grey smoke.
- give forth
- To give off an emanation
The roses give forth a very heady scent at this time of the year.
- give head
- To perform oral sex on another person
- give heed
- To pay attention; to heed
- give him enough rope and he'll hang himself
- If one gives someone enough freedom of action, they may destroy themselves by foolish actions
- give hostage to fortune
- To take an action or make a statement that is risky because it could cause you trouble later
I hope the other report will be completed at a very early date, but to put a timescale on it would be to give hostage to fortune and I am not prepared to do that.
- give in
- to relent, yield, surrender or admit defeat
OK, I don't know the answer. I give in.
- give in
- to droop the head
- give in
- to collapse or fall
The roof gave in under the weight of the snow.
- give into
- to give in to
- give it a go
- To try or attempt
Why not give it a go? You may find it easier than you thought.
- give it a shot
- Try or attempt (something)
I don’t think it will work, but I suppose you could give it a shot.
- give it a whirl
- To try, test or attempt
I don't know how to begin, but I'll give it a whirl, anyway.
- give it one's best shot
- To make one's best effort or attempt; to try as hard as possible
I didn't win the contest, but I sure gave it my best shot.
- give it some welly
- To apply great physical effort to (something)
- give it the gun
- Literal meaning
- give it the gun
- To cause a vehicle to accelerate; to open the throttle of an engine
- give it up
- To welcome on stage, to cheer
- give me
- form of words used as a request by a telephone-user to be connected with a specified person, number, etc
Give me the president.''.
- give me
- Imperative form of give
- give me
- An expression of strong preference or approbation
Give me the pliant minde, whose gentle measure Complies and suits with all estates.
- give me liberty or give me death
- A set-phrase indicating enormous displeasure at any over-authoritarian policy or law
- give notice
- To announce one's intent to leave a job; to inform an employer that one is leaving
He gave notice yesterday that he'll leave in two weeks.
- give of oneself
- To devote oneself unselfishly to a task, especially to give time and energy
Thank you to all our dedicated volunteers who have given of themselves to make this project a success.
- give off
- To emit
The substance was giving off smoke.
- give one enough rope
- To allow one to function unhindered, or without further overbearing oversight
- give one's eye-teeth
- To sacrifice something valuable
Sandy Flash burst into a roaring laugh. “Him! Ah-ha! you think we go snacks, eh? Do I look like a fool? Barton'd give his eye-teeth to put the halter round my neck with his own hands! No, no, young man; I have ways and ways o' learnin' things that you nor him'll never guess.”.
- give oneself airs
- to act pretentiously, or in a snobbish manner; to swagger
- give or take
- Approximately; plus or minus some unknown amount
He was six feet tall, give or take.
- give out
- to send forth, emit; to cause to be sent forth. also, to put forth, utter (prayers)
- give out
- to issue; to distribute
Can you help me to give out the new books to the class, please?.
- give out
- To complain, sulk, chastise
He was always giving out about the weather.
- give out
- transitive. to utter, publish; to announce, proclaim, report. to give (it) out: to profess, give it to be believed that. also, to give (a person) out to be (so and so)
- give out
- intransitive of persons: to desist (in later use, to desist through exhaustion of strength or patience). of an implement, a limb, a machine, etc.: to break down, get out of order, fail. of a supply: to run short, come to an end
So your old car finally gave out, did it?.
- give out
- to announce (a hymn) to be sung; to read out (the words) for the congregation to sing
- give over
- To entrust (something) to another
She gave the deeds over to the solicitor for safe-keeping.
- give over
- To addict, resign or apply (one’s self)
- give over
- Usually as an imperative. To tell someone to stop molesting, fooling around, or saying silly things. Or sometimes to stop saying flattering things
Give over with your nonsense, will you!.
- give over
- To give up, hand over, surrender (something)
Diocletian, the emperor, was so much affected with it that he gave over his sceptre and turned gardener.
- give over
- To yield completely, to quit, to abandon
For, as indeed was very natural in such case, all government of the Poor by the Rich has long ago been given over to Supply-and-demand, Laissez-faire and such like, and universally declared to be ‘impossible’.
- give over
- To devote oneself to a particular activity
He gave himself over to a monastic life.
- give place
- to be substituted by something
- give place
- to yield
neither give place to the Devil - Ephesians 4:27.
- give rise to
- To be the origin of; to produce; to result in
- give some skin
- To greet or congratulate someone by slapping his or her palm; see slap me five
Long time, bro. Give me some skin.
- give somebody a hand
- To applaud or clap (also to give (someone) a big hand)
Please give all our dedicated volunteers a hand for their hard work.
- give somebody a hand
- To help, aid, or assist
Could you please give me a hand carrying this mattress?.
- give somebody a hard time
- To tease, kid, or rib
He's usually pretty good-natured when the children give him a hard time about his bald spot.
- give somebody a piece of one's mind
- To express one's opinion strongly; to voice one's disagreement or dissatisfaction
That is the fourth time this week my neighbor's barking dog has woken me up. I'm going to go give her a piece of my mind about it.
- give somebody an earful
- To shout very loudly at someone
I should've never tried to grind the business' computer system to halt. Firstly I got sacked, and then my boss gave me a right earful.
- give somebody pause
- To give somebody cause for concern
Here is a fact that will give you pause. Many states do not publish the voting records of their legislators.
- give somebody the brush-off
- To rebuff, snub or curtly reject someone
I asked three different clerks, and they all gave me the brush-off.
- give somebody the cold shoulder
- To snub, resist or reject somebody; to regard somebody distantly
I must have made him angry with my comment. He’s been giving me the cold shoulder ever since I said it.
- give somebody the heave-ho
- to fire, expel or break up with someone
I'm looking for work again because they gave me the heave-ho.
- give somebody the old heave-ho
- Alternative form of give somebody the heave-ho
Now I won't have to explain to her what sort of friend you really were and why I gave you the old heave-ho.
- give somebody the runaround
- To delay, dodge, or frustrate (someone), especially by providing useless information or directions
They gave me the runaround when I called. I got a full tour of the facility by phone, but no answer to my question.
- give somebody the slip
- To evade, escape, or get away from somebody
One way or another I'm gonna lose ya, I'm gonna give you the slip.
- give somebody what-for
- To admonish or berate; to speak angrily at somebody
He really gave the kid what-for about the baseball through his window.
- give someone a big head
- To flatter someone excessively; to overpraise someone, usually resulting in them becoming proud, arrogant or conceited
Please stop telling me how smart I am - you'll give me a big head!.
- give someone five
- To slap someone's hand
- give someone grief
- To cause pain
Her elbow has been giving her grief.
- give someone grief
- To hassle, abuse
Fred was giving me grief over the money I owed him.
- give someone his head
- To allow (someone) to act without constraint: to give (someone) free rein
- give someone the chair
- To execute a person by means of the electric chair
Joseph O'Dell, convicted of a brutal rape and murder, was sentenced to death after a Virginia prosecutor told the jury that if they didn't give him the chair, he'd one day get out and be free to kill again.
- give someone the creeps
- To give someone a feeling of uneasiness or mild fright
Walking through the graveyard late at night gave me the creeps.
- give someone the eye
- To show flirtatious signs with one's eyes
I saw him giving me the eye as soon as I entered the room.
- give someone the shits
- to annoy or frustrate someone
Can you stop sending me text messages at two in the morning? You're giving me the shits!.
- give someone what for
- To punish; to rebuke
'e gived 'em up, an' repented somethin' horrid — there still bein' the buns to come — but Miss Soapy she gave 'im what- for-proper, she did!.
- give something a miss
- To forego something
I decided to give the new Franzen book a miss.
- give something up as a bad job
- To cease a task that has a history of failure and little chance of immediate success
After hours of trying, he eventually gave it up as a bad job.
- give stick
- Abuse, insult, or denigrate
- give suck
- To suckle; to give milk from the breast (to)
She brought forth the earth from her belly. She gave suck. The earth brought forth woman and the woman brought forth the first man out of her belly..
- give the boot
- to fire, to sack, to dismiss
They said I couldn’t do the job so they gave me the boot. So, now I’m looking for work again.
- give the devil his due
- To acknowledge the positive qualities of a person who is unpleasant or disliked
And to give the devil his due he's finer than ever. Too damn fine for this crowd!.
- give the elbow
- To fire (an employee); to terminate the employment of
They said I couldn't do the job so they gave me the elbow. So, now I'm looking for work again.
- give the finger
- To make an obscene gesture by closing the fist and extending the middle finger upwards
- give the lie to
- to prove something to be false; to refute
They found plenty of email that gave the lie to his assertion that he didn't know about the incident.
- give the store away
- Alternative form of give away the store
- give the time of day
- To acknowledge somebody; to give somebody any respect or attention
If he doesn't think you are rich enough, he won't even give you the time of day.
- give thought
- to consider, think about or evaluate something
I have recently given some thought to manly sports, and I venture a few words in regard to their value in every scheme of all-round education.
- give two hoots
- Care about; place value in; give a toss
- give up
- to abandon
I gave up my faith years ago.
- give up
- to stop or desist; to quit
They gave up the search when it got dark.
- give up
- to surrender
His friends gave him up to the police.
- give up
- to admit defeat, to capitulate
OK, I give up, you win.
- give up
- to lose hope
They gave him up for dead.
- give up
- to relinquish
You could not have visited me! she cried, looking aghast. No, to be sure you could not; but I never thought of that before. That would have been too dreadful!--What an escape!--Dear Miss Woodhouse, I would not give up the pleasure and honour of being intimate with you for any thing in the world..
- give up the ghost
- To cease clinging to life; to die
And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.
- give up the ghost
- To cede a commitment to or identification with
- give up the ghost
- To quit; to cease functioning
My old computer finally gave up the ghost the other day.
- give voice
- To sing
- give voice
- To verb; to express an opinion or a feeling
- give way
- To be followed, succeeded, or replaced by
Winter gave way to spring.
- give way
- To yield to persistent persuasion
The mother gave way to her crying child.
- give way
- To give precedence to other road users
At the crossing, cars must give way to pedestrians.
- give way
- To collapse or break under physical stresses
After years of neglect, the rusty old bridge could give way at any time.
- give weight
- to attach importance to
Requiring concrete suggestions or motivations beyond those actually needed by a person of ordinary skill in the art, and failing to give weight to suggestions implicit from the prior art as a whole errs on the side of issuing patents to obvious inventions .
- give weight
- to improve the credibility or legitimacy of
We soldiers don’t hate one another when the war is over, and maybe the fact that I’ve fought through it will give weight to my words.
- give what for
- To scold; to punish, especially verbally
When she found out, she really gave him what for.
- give-and-take
- A lively exchange of conversation
- give-and-take
- The settling of differences through compromise and mutual concessions
