give up
give up verb: to surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).
Verb
give up (third-person singular simple present gives up, present participle giving up, simple past gave up, past participle given up)
- To surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).
- He was surrounded, so gave himself up.
- They gave him up to the police.
- To relinquish (something)
- He gave up his seat to an old man.
- The king gave up land in exchange for peace.
- Devote or dedicate (oneself, one's life, etc.) to something.
- I gave myself up to working for this cause.
- She persuaded us to give up our time to the project.
- To have someone obtain (something) to one's disadvantage; to concede.
- A good pitcher will give up very few home runs.
- Don't tell them where you are, and try not to give up any clues either.
- To stop or quit (an activity, etc.).
- They gave up the search when it got dark.
- Once again, the WiFi isn't willing to work. When the guard comes to check tickets, I ask him if it ever works. He rolls his eyes and tells me it rarely does. He says I'll be lucky if I get it to connect. I give up trying.2025 October 15, 'Mystery Shopper', “About Anglia... and high scores”, in RAIL, number 1046, page 54
- Synonyms:
- cease, discontinue, blin, turn away from
- To abandon (someone or something)
- I gave up my faith years ago.
- The semi-streamlined contour of the earlier G.W.R. railcars has been given up in favour of a more utilitarian blunt-nose end, and effective floor space gained thereby.1941 October, “Notes and News: Great Western Parcels Railcar”, in Railway Magazine, page 474
- To lose hope concerning (someone or something)
- They gave him up for dead.
- To admit defeat, capitulate; to desist for that reason.
- OK, I give up, you win.
- Wake in a sweat again / Another day's been laid to waste / In my disgrace / Stuck in my head again / Feels like I'll never leave this place / There's no escape / I'm my own worst enemy / I've given up / I'm sick of feeling / Is there nothing you can say? / Take this all away / I'm suffocating2007, “Given Up”, Mike Shinoda (lyrics), performed by Linkin Park
- Synonyms:
- capitulate, give in, surrender, throw in the towel, wave the white flag
- To execute a trade on behalf of another broker.
- To acknowledge, recognize as.
- The next morning, Sunday, I was boxing with R., who had come over with three or four others to swap a few with me. I was given up to be the best boxer around, and I laid them cold as fast as they came at me.1969, God Struck Me Dead; Religious Conversion Experiences and Autobiographies of Ex-Slaves, Philadelphia, P.A.; Boston, M.A.: Pilgrim Press, page 45
- To reveal (something).
- He gave up that he was the one who opened the door.
- Well, give it up, Prof! What did you find out!2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: Rogueport
Adjective
give up (comparative more give up, superlative most give up)
- Become fully taken over by a certain quality, activity, trait, etc.
- And now She Seems give up to Sin / Too much neglecting grace withinc. 1808, Mary Woody, A true account of Nayomy Wise
give up meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Malayalam
give up in Hindi
- to give up
- थककर बैठ जाना thakkar baiṭh jānā
give up in Tamil
- கைவிடு
give up in Urdu
- to give up; become tired of
- تھکنا thaknā
- to give up
- جواب دینا javāb denā
give up in Malayalam
- give up
- ത്യജിക്കുക tyajikkuka
More languagesFewer languages
- give up in Kannada
- ಕಯ್ಬಿಡು, ತೊರೆ, ತೂರು, ನಿಲ್ಲಿಸು
- give up in Punjabi
- چھڈنا chaḍḍṇā
- give up in Sanskrit
- रिणक्ति riṇákti, अपोहति ápohati, हापयति hāpayati, रिच् ric
- give up in Assamese
- তেজা teza
- give up in Nepali
- हार्नु hārnu
- give up in Tagalog
- sumuko
- give up in Arabic
- تَنَازَلَ tanāzala, تَخَلَّى taḵallā, اِسْتَسْلَمَ istaslama
- give up in Indonesian
- menyerah, menyerahkan, berhenti, mengabaikan
- give up in Thai
- ยอมแพ้ yɔɔm-pɛ́ɛ, สละ sà-là, เลิก lə̂ək, วางมือ waang-mʉʉ
- give up in Vietnamese
- đầu hàng, nhường, bỏ cuộc, từ bỏ hi vọng
Synonyms of give up
- surrender
- yield
- cease
- discontinue
- blin
- turn away from
- desert
- forsake
- capitulate
- give in
4 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of give up
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | gives up |
| present participle | giving up |
| past | gave up |
| past participle | given up |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more give up |
| superlative | most give up |
Words formed from give up
Questions about give up
- What does give up mean?
- Give up means to surrender (someone or something); to inform on (someone).
- What is give up in Hindi?
- Give up in Hindi is थककर बैठ जाना (thakkar baiṭh jānā). See Give up meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is give up?
- Give up can be a verb or an adjective.
- What is the past tense of give up?
- The past tense of give up is gave up.
Words near give up in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: give up (page history and authors); थककर बैठ जाना (Hindi) (page history and authors); give up (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); تھکنا (Urdu) (page history and authors); ത്യജിക്കുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); give up (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); چھڈنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); अपोहति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); তেজা (Assamese) (page history and authors); हार्नु (Nepali) (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.
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Cite this entry: “give up.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/give_up. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.