Word.ws English Dictionary

gives as good as one gets

gives as good as one gets is the third-person singular simple present indicative of give as good as one gets.

Meaning of give as good as one gets

Verb

give as good as one gets (third-person singular simple present gives as good as one gets, present participle giving as good as one gets, simple past gave as good as one got, past participle given as good as one got)

  1. (idiomatic) To behave toward others in a manner resembling or commensurate with their behavior towards oneself, especially in a situation where one is insulted or otherwise ill-treated.
    • On balance, it was harsh on Hearts, who had given as good as they got against their more-fancied opponents, who, despite not being at full strength, fielded a multi-million pound team.2012 August 23, Alasdair Lamont, “Hearts 0-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport

Questions about gives as good as one gets

What is gives as good as one gets the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Gives as good as one gets is the third-person singular simple present indicative of give as good as one gets.

Words near gives as good as one gets in the dictionary

  1. gives a sneck posset
  2. gives a tin shit
  3. gives about
  4. gives against
  5. gives an inch
  6. gives as good as one gets
  7. gives away
  8. gives away the farm
  9. gives away the store
  10. gives back
  11. gives battle

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: gives as good as one gets (page history and authors); give as good as one gets (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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