Meaning of give in English
Table of contents
Pronunciation
/ɡɪv/US accent
UK accent
to browse different examples of pronunciation.Verb
giveEtymology
Old English giefan, gefan, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch geven and German gebenDefinitions
1. cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical senseExamples
- « She gave him a black eye »
- « The draft gave me a cold »
- 2. be the cause or source of
Examples
- « He gave me a lot of trouble »
- « Our meeting afforded much interesting information »
- 3. transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody
Examples
- « I gave her my money »
- « can you give me lessons? »
- « She gave the children lots of love and tender loving care »
Antonyms
Derived terms
- 4. convey or reveal information
Examples
- « Give one's name »
Derived terms
- 5. convey, as of a compliment, regards, attention, etc.
Examples
- « bestow »
- « Don't pay him any mind »
- « give the orders »
- « Give him my best regards »
- « pay attention »
- 6. organize or be responsible for
Examples
- « hold a reception »
- « have, throw, or make a party »
- « give a course »
- 7. convey or communicate
Examples
- « of a smile, a look, a physical gesture »
- « Throw a glance »
- « She gave me a dirty look »
- 8. give as a present
Examples
- « make a gift of »
- « What will you give her for her birthday? »
Derived terms
- 9. bring about
Examples
- « His two singles gave the team the victory »
- 10. dedicate
Examples
- « give thought to »
- « give priority to »
- « pay attention to »
- 11. give or supply
Examples
- « 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 »
Derived terms
- 12. tell or deposit (information) knowledge
Examples
- « give a secret to the Russians »
- « leave your name and address here »
Derived terms
- 13. bring about
Examples
- « The trompe l'oeil-illusion establishes depth »
- 14. leave with
Examples
- « give temporarily »
- « Can I give you my keys while I go in the pool? »
- « Can I give you the children for the weekend? »
- 15. emit or utter
Examples
- « Give a gulp »
- « give a yelp »
- 16. endure the loss of
Examples
- « He gave his life for his children »
- « I gave two sons to the war »
Derived terms
- 17. place into the hands or custody of
Examples
- « hand me the spoon, please »
- « Turn the files over to me, please »
- « He turned over the prisoner to his lawyers »
Derived terms
- 18. give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause
Examples
- « She committed herself to the work of God »
- « give one's talents to a good cause »
- « consecrate your life to the church »
Derived terms
- 19. give (as medicine)
Examples
- « I gave him the drug »
- 20. give or convey physically
Examples
- « She gave him First Aid »
- « I gave him a punch in the nose »
- 21. bestow
Examples
- « give hommage »
- « render thanks »
Derived terms
- 22. bestow, especially officially
Examples
- « grant a degree »
- « give a divorce »
- « This bill grants us new rights »
Derived terms
- 23. move in order to make room for someone for something
Examples
- « The park gave way to a supermarket »
- « 'Move over,' he told the crowd »
- 24. give food to
Examples
- « Feed the starving children in India »
- « don't give the child this tough meat »
Antonyms
Derived terms
- 25. contribute to some cause
Examples
- « I gave at the office »
Derived terms
- 26. break down, literally or metaphorically
Examples
- « 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 »
Derived terms
- 27. estimate the duration or outcome of something
Examples
- « He gave the patient three months to live »
- « I gave him a very good chance at success »
- 28. execute and deliver
Examples
- « Give bond »
- 29. deliver in exchange or recompense
Examples
- « I'll give you three books for four CDs »
- 30. afford access to
Examples
- « the door opens to the patio »
- « The French doors give onto a terrace »
Derived terms
- 31. present to view
Examples
- « He gave the sign to start »
- 32. perform for an audience
Examples
- « Pollini is giving another concert in New York »
- 33. be flexible under stress of physical force
Examples
- « This material doesn't give »
Derived terms
- 34. propose
Examples
- « He gave the first of many toasts at the birthday party »
- 35. legal use: accord by verdict
Examples
- « give a decision for the plaintiff »
- 36. manifest or show
Examples
- « This student gives promise of real creativity »
- « The office gave evidence of tampering »
- 37. offer in good faith
Examples
- « He gave her his word »
Derived terms
- 38. submit for consideration, judgment, or use
Examples
- « give one's opinion »
- « give an excuse »
- 39. guide or direct, as by behavior of persuasion
Examples
- « You gave me to think that you agreed with me »
- 40. allow to have or take
Examples
- « I give you two minutes to respond »
- 41. inflict as a punishment
Examples
- « She gave the boy a good spanking »
- « The judge gave me 10 years »
- 42. occur
Examples
- « what gives? »
- 43. consent to engage in sexual intercourse with a man
Examples
- « She gave herself to many men »
- 44. proffer (a body part)
Examples
- « She gave her hand to her little sister »
Noun
giveDefinitions
1. the elasticity of something that can be stretched and returns to its original lengthDerived terms
Famous quotes
- « I had people in my life who didn't give up on me: my mother, my aunt, my science teacher. I had one-on-one speech therapy. I had a nanny who spent all day playing turn-taking games with me. » Temple Grandin
- « Half the time I feel like I'm appealing to the downer freaks out there. We start to play one downer record after another until I begin to get down myself. Give me something from 1960 or something let me get up again. The music of today is for downer freaks, and I'm an upper. » Wolfman Jack
- « Later in my life, I'm going to look back and smile and be very fulfilled. I know that if I don't give it my all right now I'll regret it later. That's very important to me, because I've worked all my life to have this. » Shania Twain
- « It is the belief that extremes and excesses of inequality must be reduced so that each person is free to fully develop his or her full potential. This is why we take precious time out of our lives and give it to politics. » Paul Wellstone
- « I could probably give you a list of a dozen pet peeves I have about my own physicality and why I couldn't get a second date. » Zachary Levi