Word.ws English Dictionary

giving one's all

giving one's all is the present participle and gerund of give one's all.

Meaning of give one's all

Verb

give one's all (third-person singular simple present gives one's all, present participle giving one's all, simple past gave one's all, past participle given one's all)

  1. To make the utmost effort; to contribute, using all of one's abilities and resources.
    • Near-synonym: give it one's best shot
  2. (euphemistic, idiomatic) To lose one's life while making the utmost effort with full commitment.
    • The Cemeterial Division . . . has taken up the huge task of establishing contact with the mothers or widows of the 30,000 American soldiers who gave their all and whose bodies rest in graves across the sea.1929 April 10, “Plans for War Mothers Pilgrimage Started”, in Rochester Evening Journal and the Post Express, retrieved 18 Jun 2011, page 26
    Synonyms:
    assume room temperature, auger in, be called home, be gathered to one's fathers, be like the the One, be no more, be with Jesus, be with the Lord, bite the big one, bite the biscuit

Questions about giving one's all

What is giving one's all the present participle and gerund of?
Giving one's all is the present participle and gerund of give one's all.

Words near giving one's all in the dictionary

  1. giving off
  2. giving one a yell
  3. giving one enough rope
  4. giving one the lie in one's throat
  5. giving one the mitten
  6. giving one's all
  7. giving one's best
  8. giving one's head a shake
  9. giving one's left nut
  10. giving one's notice
  11. giving one's right arm

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: giving one's all (page history and authors); give one's all (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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