give up

verb

gave up; given up; giving up; gives 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

4

a

: 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

Phrases

give up the ghost

: to cease to live or function : die

Synonyms

• cede
• cough up
• deliver
• hand over
• lay down
• relinquish
• render
• surrender
• turn in
• turn over
• yield

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

After the incident, the poster contacted the bus service and confirmed that no passenger has the right to force another to give up a seat if other options are available. —David Faris, Newsweek, 4 Feb. 2025

Read Next National Dog ‘shot and left to suffer’ refused to give up in Ohio. —Tj MacIas, Kansas City Star, 3 Feb. 2025

Netanyahu, for his part, would agree to hold off on military action while Washington figures out if Tehran is, indeed, ready to give up its nuclear weapons option. —Dennis Ross, Foreign Affairs, 3 Feb. 2025

Another statue commemorates Rosa Parks, who in 1955 refused to give up her seat and move to the back of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, spurring the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott, led by King and others. —Bruce Finley, The Denver Post, 3 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

give up

verb

1

: surrender entry 1 sense 1

2

: to abandon (oneself) to a feeling, influence, or activity

3

: stop entry 1 sense 7a