Pronunciation
- IPA: /ɡɪv/
give (gives, present participle giving; past gave, past participle given)
- (ditransitive) To move, shift, provide something abstract or concrete to someone or something or somewhere.
- 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.
- 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.
- To pledge.
- I gave him my word that I'd protect his children.
- To provide (something) to (someone), to allow or afford.
- I gave them permission to miss tomorrow's class.
- Please give me some more time.
- 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.
- 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.
- To pass (something) into (someone's hand, etc.).
- Give me your hand.
- On entering the house, he gave his coat to the doorman.
- 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.
- To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone).
- (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.
- (intransitive) To yield slightly when a force is applied.
- (intransitive) To collapse under pressure or force.
- One pillar gave, then more, and suddenly the whole floor pancaked onto the floor below.
- (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".
- (intransitive) To lead (onto or into).
- The master bedroom gives onto a spacious balcony.
- (transitive, dated) To provide a view of.
- His window gave the park.
- 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.
- 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.
- To cause (someone) to have; produce in (someone); effectuate.
- 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.
- To attribute; to assign; to adjudge.
- I don't wonder at people's giving him to me as a lover.
- 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.
- (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.
- (reflexive) To devote or apply (oneself).
- The soldiers give themselves to plunder.
- That boy is given to fits of bad temper.
- (obsolete) To become soft or moist.
- (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.
- (obsolete) To have a misgiving.
- My mind gives ye're reserved / To rob poor market women.
- (slang) To be going on, to be occurring
- What gives?
- (transfer possession of) seeSynonyms en
- (bend slightly when a force is applied) bend, cede, flex, move, yield
- (estimate or predict) estimate, guess, predict
- (provide)
- (transfer possession of) get, obtain, receive, take
- (bend slightly when a force is applied) not bend/cede/flex/give/move/yield, resist
- French: donner, bailler
- German: geben, abgeben
- Italian: dare
- Portuguese: dar
- Russian: дава́ть
- Spanish: dar, entregar, donar
- German: nachgeben
- Russian: пода́ться
give (uncountable)
- 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.
- German: Dehnbarkeit
give (plural gives)
- Alternative form of gyve#English|gyve
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