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give away

   Also found in: Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.
give  (gv)
v. gave (gv), giv·en (gvn), giv·ing, gives
v.tr.
1. To make a present of: We gave her flowers for her birthday.
2. To place in the hands of; pass: Give me the scissors.
3.
a. To deliver in exchange or recompense; pay: gave five dollars for the book.
b. To let go for a price; sell: gave the used car away for two thousand dollars.
4.
a. To administer: give him some cough medicine.
b. To convey by a physical action: gave me a punch in the nose.
c. To inflict as punishment: gave the child a spanking; was given life imprisonment for the crime.
d. Law To accord by verdict: A decision was given for the plaintiff.
5.
a. To bestow, especially officially; confer: The Bill of Rights gives us freedom of speech.
b. To accord or tender to another: Give him your confidence.
c. To put temporarily at the disposal of: gave them the cottage for a week.
d. To entrust to another, usually for a specified reason: gave me the keys for safekeeping.
e. To convey or offer for conveyance: Give him my best wishes.
f. Law To execute and deliver. Used especially in the phrase give bond.
6.
a. To endure the loss of; sacrifice: gave her son to the war; gave her life for her country.
b. To devote or apply completely: gives herself to her work.
c. To furnish or contribute: gave their time to help others.
d. To offer in good faith; pledge: Give me your word.
7.
a. To allot as a portion or share.
b. To bestow (a name, for example).
c. To attribute (blame, for example) to someone; assign.
d. To award as due: gave us first prize.
8. To emit or utter: gave a groan; gave a muted response.
9. To submit for consideration, acceptance, or use: give an opinion; give an excuse.
10.
a. To proffer to another: gave the toddler my hand.
b. To consent to engage (oneself) in sexual intercourse with a man.
11.
a. To perform for an audience: give a recital.
b. To present to view: gave the sign to begin.
12.
a. To offer as entertainment: give a dinner party.
b. To propose as a toast.
13.
a. To be a source of; afford: His remark gave offense. Music gives her pleasure.
b. To cause to catch or be subject to (a disease or bodily condition): The draft gave me a cold.
c. To guide or direct, as by persuasion or behavior. Used with an infinitive phrase: You gave me to imagine you approved of my report.
14.
a. To yield or produce: Cows give milk.
b. To bring forth or bear: trees that give fruit.
c. To produce as a result of calculation: 5 × 12 gives 60.
15.
a. To manifest or show: gives promise of brilliance; gave evidence of tampering.
b. To carry out (a physical movement): give a wink; give a start.
16. To permit one to have or take: gave us an hour to finish.
17. To take an interest to the extent of: "My dear, I don't give a damn" (Margaret Mitchell).
v.intr.
1. To make gifts or donations: gives generously to charity.
2.
a. To yield to physical force.
b. To collapse from force or pressure: The roof gave under the weight of the snow.
c. To yield to change: Both sides will have to give on some issues.
3. To afford access or a view; open: The doors give onto a terrace.
4. Slang To be in progress; happen: What gives?
n.
1. Capacity or inclination to yield under pressure.
2. The quality or condition of resilience; springiness: "Fruits that have some give ... will have more juice than hard ones" (Elizabeth Schneider).
Phrasal Verbs:
give away
1. To make a gift of.
2. To present (a bride) to the bridegroom at a wedding ceremony.
3.
a. To reveal or make known, often accidentally.
b. To betray.
give back
To return: gave me back my book.
give in
1. To hand in; submit: She gave in her report.
2. To cease opposition; yield.
give of
To devote or contribute: She really gave of her time to help. They give of themselves to improve the quality of education.
give off
To send forth; emit: chemical changes that give off energy.
give out
1. To allow to be known; declare publicly: gave out the bad news.
2. To send forth; emit: gave out a steady buzzing.
3. To distribute: gave out the surplus food.
4. To stop functioning; fail.
5. To become used up or exhausted; run out: Their determination finally gave out.
give over
1. To hand over; entrust.
2.
a. To devote to a particular purpose or use: gave the day over to merrymaking.
b. To surrender (oneself) completely; abandon: finally gave myself over to grief.
3. To cause an activity to stop: ordered the combatants to give over.
give up
1.
a. To surrender: The suspects gave themselves up.
b. To devote (oneself) completely: gave herself up to her work.
2.
a. To cease to do or perform: gave up their search.
b. To desist from; stop: gave up smoking.
3. To part with; relinquish: gave up the apartment; gave up all hope.
4.
a. To lose hope for: We had given the dog up as lost.
b. To lose hope of seeing: We'd given you up an hour ago.
5. To admit defeat.
6. To abandon what one is doing or planning to do: gave up on writing the novel.
Idioms:
give a good account of (oneself)
To behave or perform creditably.
give birth to
1. To bear as offspring.
2. To be the origin of: a hobby that gave birth to a successful business.
give ground
To yield to a more powerful force; retreat.
give it to Informal
To punish or reprimand severely: My parents really gave it to me for coming in late.
give or take
Plus or minus a small specified amount: The chalet is close to the road, give or take a few hundred yards.
give rise to
To be the cause or origin of; bring about.
give (someone) a hard time
1. To make life difficult for; harass.
2. To make fun of; tease.
give (someone) the eye
To look at admiringly or invitingly.
give the lie to
1. To show to be inaccurate or untrue.
2. To accuse of lying.
give up the ghost
To cease living or functioning; die.
give way
1.
a. To retreat or withdraw.
b. To yield the right of way: gave way to an oncoming car.
c. To relinquish ascendancy or position: as day gives way slowly to night.
2.
a. To collapse from or as if from physical pressure: The ladder gave way.
b. To yield to urging or demand; give in.
3. To abandon oneself: give way to hysteria.

[Middle English given, from Old English giefan and Old Norse gefa; see ghabh- in Indo-European roots.]

give away
Verb
1. to donate as a gift
2. to reveal (a secret)
3. to present (a bride) formally to her husband in a marriage ceremony
4. give something away NZ to give something up
Noun
giveaway
something that reveals hidden feelings or intentions
Adjective
giveaway
very cheap or free: a giveaway rent
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Verb1.give away - make a gift of; "She gave away her antique furniture"
gift, present, give - give as a present; make a gift of; "What will you give her for her birthday?"
2.give awaygive away - make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret; "The auction house would not disclose the price at which the van Gogh had sold"; "The actress won't reveal how old she is"; "bring out the truth"; "he broke the news to her"; "unwrap the evidence in the murder case"
blackwash - bring (information) out of concealment
muckrake - explore and expose misconduct and scandals concerning public figures; "This reporter was well-known for his muckraking"
blow - cause to be revealed and jeopardized; "The story blew their cover"; "The double agent was blown by the other side"
out - reveal (something) about somebody's identity or lifestyle; "The gay actor was outed last week"; "Someone outed a CIA agent"
come out of the closet, out, come out - to state openly and publicly one's homosexuality; "This actor outed last year"
spring - produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly; "He sprang these news on me just as I was leaving"
get around, get out, break - be released or become known; of news; "News of her death broke in the morning"
betray, bewray - reveal unintentionally; "Her smile betrayed her true feelings"
confide - reveal in private; tell confidentially
leak - tell anonymously; "The news were leaked to the paper"
babble out, blab, blab out, let the cat out of the bag, peach, spill the beans, tattle, babble, talk, sing - divulge confidential information or secrets; "Be careful--his secretary talks"
tell - let something be known; "Tell them that you will be late"
reveal - disclose directly or through prophets; "God rarely reveal his plans for Mankind"
3.give away - formally hand over to the bridegroom in marriage; of a bride by her father
fork out, fork over, fork up, hand over, turn in, deliver, render - to surrender someone or something to another; "the guard delivered the criminal to the police"; "render up the prisoners"; "render the town to the enemy"; "fork over the money"
4.give away - give away information about somebody; "He told on his classmate who had cheated on the exam"
inform - impart knowledge of some fact, state or affairs, or event to; "I informed him of his rights"
sell out - give information that compromises others


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
At first she found it amusing to give away dresses and ribbons to the maids, but when that was done and what was left had still to be packed, she found it dull.
I have known ambition, when cured at court by frequent disappointments (which are the only physic for it), to break out again in a contest for foreman of the grand jury at an assizes; and have heard of a man who had so far conquered avarice, as to give away many a sixpence, that comforted himself, at last, on his deathbed, by making a crafty and advantageous bargain concerning his ensuing funeral, with an undertaker who had married his only child.
George comes bluff and martial through it all, and his pledge to be present at the marriage and give away the bride is received with universal favour.
 
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