English
give
Pronunciation Verb

give (gives, present participle giving; past gave, past participle given)

  1. (ditransitive) To move, shift, provide something abstract or concrete to someone or something or somewhere.
    1. To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone).
      I gave him my coat.
      I gave my coat to the beggar.
      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.
      He gives of his energies to the organization.
    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.
      It gives me a lot of pleasure to be here tonight.
      The fence gave me an electric shock.
      My mother-in-law gives me nothing but grief.
    6. To carry out (a physical interaction) with (something).
      I want to give you a kiss.
      She gave him a hug.
      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.
    7. To pass (something) into (someone's hand, etc.).
      Give me your hand.
      On entering the house, he gave his coat to the doorman.
    8. 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.
      • 1699, Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, Heads designed for an essay on conversations ↗
        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.
  2. (ditransitive) To estimate or predict (a duration or probability) for (something).
    I give it ten minutes before he gives up.
    I give it a 95% chance of success.
    I'll give their marriage six months.
  3. (intransitive) To yield slightly when a force is applied.
  4. (intransitive) To collapse under pressure or force.
    One pillar gave, then more, and suddenly the whole floor pancaked onto the floor below.
  5. (transitive) To provide, as, a service or a broadcast.
    They're giving my favorite show!
    • 2003, Iain Aitken, Value-Driven IT Management: Commercializing the IT Function, page 153
      […] who did not have a culture in which 'giving good presentation' and successfully playing the internal political game was the way up.
    • 2006, Christopher Matthew Spencer The Ebay Entrepreneur, page 248
      A friendly voice on the phone welcoming prospective new clients is a must. Don't underestimate the importance of giving good "phone".
  6. (intransitive) To lead (onto or into).
    The master bedroom gives onto a spacious balcony.
  7. (transitive, dated) To provide a view of.
    His window gave the park.
  8. 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.
  9. To cause; to make; used with the infinitive.
    • c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act II, scene viii]:
      But there the duke was given to understand / That in a gondola were seen together / Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica.
  10. To cause (someone) to have; produce in (someone); effectuate.
  11. 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.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book 2”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: Printed [by Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […] [a]nd by Robert Boulter […] [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], OCLC 228722708 ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: The Text Exactly Reproduced from the First Edition of 1667: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554 ↗:
      I give not heaven for lost.
  12. To attribute; to assign; to adjudge.
    • I don't wonder at people's giving him to me as a lover.
  13. 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.
  14. (dated) To grant power or permission to; to allow.
    • It is given me once again to behold my friend.
    • 1725, Homer; [Alexander Pope], transl., “Book III”, in The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: Printed for Bernard Lintot, OCLC 8736646 ↗:
      Then give thy friend to shed the sacred wine.
  15. (reflexive) To devote or apply (oneself).
    The soldiers give themselves to plunder.
    That boy is given to fits of bad temper.
  16. (obsolete) To become soft or moist.
  17. (obsolete) To shed tears; to weep.
    • c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene iii]:
      Whose eyes do never give / But through lust and laughter.
  18. (obsolete) To have a misgiving.
    • My mind gives ye're reserved / To rob poor market women.
  19. (slang) To be going on, to be occurring
    What gives?
Synonyms Antonyms
  • (transfer possession of) get, obtain, receive, take
  • (bend slightly when a force is applied) not bend/cede/flex/give/move/yield, resist
Translations Translations Noun

give (uncountable)

  1. The amount of bending that something undergoes when a force is applied to it; a tendency to yield under pressure; resilence.
    This chair doesn't have much give.
    There is no give in his dogmatic religious beliefs.
Translations
  • German: Dehnbarkeit
Noun

give (plural gives)

  1. Alternative form of gyve#English|gyve


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