give over

verb

gave over; given over; giving over; gives over

transitive verb

1

: cease

2

: entrust

3

a

: to yield without restraint or control : abandon

gave themselves over to laughter

b

: to set apart for a particular purpose or use

4

archaic : to pronounce incurable

intransitive verb

British : to cease an activity : stop

told him to give over and let me alone

—Brendan Behan

Synonyms

• break
• break off
• break up
• can [slang]
• cease
• cut off
• cut out
• desist (from)
• discontinue
• drop
• end
• halt
• knock off
• lay off
• leave off
• pack (up or in)
• quit
• shut off
• stop

Examples of give over in a Sentence

his wife suggested that he give over working such long hours if it was making him so unhappy

gave over his entire savings to an investor

Recent Examples on the Web

The romance plot continues to bleed into Miss Night and Day’s finale even as the series gives over fully to its grim thriller as, after a bunch of red herrings, the murderer is finally revealed to be the snooty, though seemingly harmless, intern Na Ok-hui (Bae Hae-sun) aka Gong Eum-sim. —Geoffrey Bunting, TIME, 5 Aug. 2024

The movie was always Sam’s from the jump, but so much of Donaldson’s film is generously given over to being Brooklyn Sad-Dad catnip, as these two men wax poetic and bathetic about second marriages, second families, a lack of second chances. —David Fear, Rolling Stone, 11 Aug. 2024

Much of their mind must be given over to analyzing their performance, visualizing improvement, and steeling themselves through the work to get there. —Talia Barrington, The Atlantic, 6 Aug. 2024

The war that was private to the two of them has been given over to sons and councils and dragons, and there’s no going back now. —Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 14 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1