give up

verb

gave up; given up; giving up; gives up

Definition of give up

transitive verb

1 : to yield control or possession of : surrender forced to give up his job

2 : to desist from : abandon refused to give up her efforts

3 : to declare incurable or insoluble

4a : to abandon (oneself) to a particular feeling, influence, or activity gave himself up to despair

b : to devote to a particular purpose or use

5 : to despair of seeing we'd given you up

6 : to allow (a hit or run in baseball) while pitching

intransitive verb

: to cease doing or attempting something especially as an admission of defeat : quit —often used with on don't give up on the project

give up the ghost

: to cease to live or function : die

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about give up

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Examples of give up in a Sentence

was in so much debt he had to give up his house and move into a cheaper apartment I hope you won't give up playing the piano.

Recent Examples on the Web

The surprise from men is usually in response to my willingness to give up my last name. — Sean Wellington, Essence, "Why I (Proudly) Took My Wife’s Last Name When We Got Married," 30 Aug. 2019 Ole Miss's defense, which gave up 483 yards per game last year (121st in FBS), is going to have to improve in a hurry under new DC Mike MacIntyre to steal this one, but there could be plenty of offensive fireworks on both sides. — The Si Staff, SI.com, "College Football Week 1 Picks: Who Has the Edge on Opening Weekend?," 29 Aug. 2019 The difference between those who move it out of the way and those who give up often doesn’t come down to smarts, but instead perseverance and grit. — Christina Stembel, Quartz at Work, "Creating Farmgirl Flowers taught me my high school education is more than enough," 29 Aug. 2019 This time, instead of giving up a homer or dropping an easy fly ball or striking out at the plate with the game on the line, Charlie Brown balks in the winning run. — Bruce Handy, The Atlantic, "The Peanuts Characters Aren’t Ordinary Kids," 29 Aug. 2019 The Broncos rallied back to take a 17-13 first-half lead before giving up three consecutive touchdowns to the powerful ground game the Warhawks bring. — Pomerado News, "Nighthawks run past Fallbrook; Broncos, Titans looking for first wins," 28 Aug. 2019 Roark had the benefit of an early lead: The A’s scored three times in the first off Masahiro Tanaha, who gave up a leadoff double to Marcus Semien, then walked Robbie Grossman and Matt Chapman. — Susan Slusser, SFChronicle.com, "A’s sweep Yankees behind another terrific start by Roark," 22 Aug. 2019 There have been so many wonderful technological advances in materials that give me the ability to create luxurious items using nonanimal fur without giving up style and quality. — Lynn Yaeger, Vogue, "7 Designers on the Future of Fur in Fashion," 14 Aug. 2019 The number of firearms, as of Sunday, that New Zealand residents have given up since a nationwide buyback program went into effect on July 13. — Aj Willingham, CNN, "5 things to know for August 12: Epstein, Iowa, Hong Kong, Oslo mosque shooting, monsoon," 12 Aug. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'give up.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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give up

Definition of give up

Synonyms for give up

Examples of give up in a Sentence

First Known Use of give up

give up

Definition of give up

Synonyms for give up

Examples of give up in a Sentence

First Known Use of give up

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