Word.ws English Dictionary

gift that keeps on giving

gift that keeps on giving noun: something with ongoing consequences; usually, one with positive ongoing consequences.

Noun

gift that keeps on giving (plural gifts that keep on giving)

  1. (idiomatic) Something with ongoing consequences; usually, one with positive ongoing consequences.
    • Those flower bulbs that our neighbor gave us are a gift that keeps on giving — they keep blooming year after year.
    1. (idiomatic, slang) A sexually transmitted disease.
      • That one-night stand that some tramp gave him is a gift that keeps on giving — he's had syphilis for years now.
      • She fell for his soulful tenor playing, so she gave him the gift that keeps on giving — the clap.2006, Jeannie Cheatham, Meet Me with Your Black Drawers On: My Life in Music, page 130

Examples of gift that keeps on giving in a sentence

  • Plus, there's about a 25% chance that you now have the gift that keeps on giving, an STD.2007, Doug Giles, A Time to Clash: Papers from a Provocative Pastor, page 202:
  • Maybe I was lucky that we did not get together, who knows, maybe she would have given me the gift that keeps on giving.2007, R.H.B. Jackson, Dad and Me, page 462:
  • “You gave me the gift that keeps on giving!” […] “The old man gave Sebastian herpes!”2010, Michael Salvatore, Between Boyfriends, page 184:

Forms of gift that keeps on giving

pluralgifts that keep on giving

Origin of gift that keeps on giving

The disease sense is by irony.

Questions about gift that keeps on giving

What does gift that keeps on giving mean?
Gift that keeps on giving means something with ongoing consequences; usually, one with positive ongoing consequences.
How do you use gift that keeps on giving in a sentence?
Plus, there's about a 25% chance that you now have the gift that keeps on giving, an STD.
What part of speech is gift that keeps on giving?
Gift that keeps on giving is a noun.
What is the plural of gift that keeps on giving?
The plural of gift that keeps on giving is gifts that keep on giving.

Words near gift that keeps on giving in the dictionary

  1. gift shops
  2. gift suite
  3. gift suites
  4. gift tax
  5. gift taxes
  6. gift that keeps on giving
  7. gift token
  8. gift tokens
  9. gift voucher
  10. gift vouchers
  11. gift wrap

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gift that keeps on giving (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-gift that keeps on giving.ogg.

Cite this entry: “gift that keeps on giving.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gift_that_keeps_on_giving. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.