giving
Variant of give
give (giv)
transitive verb gave, given giv′en, giving giv′·ing
- to turn over the possession or control of to someone without cost or exchange; make a gift of
- to hand or pass over into the trust or keeping of someone to give the porter a bag to carry, to give a daughter in marriage
- to hand or pass over in exchange for something else; sell (goods, services, etc.) for a price or pay (a price) for goods, services, etc.
- to relay; pass along to give regards to someone
- to produce in a person or thing; cause to have; impart to give pleasure, to give someone a cold
- to confer or assign (a title, position, name, etc.)
- to act as host or sponsor of (a party, dance, etc.)
- ☆ to put in communication with, as by telephone
- to be the source, origin, or cause of; produce; supply cows give milk
- to part with for some cause; sacrifice to give one's life for a cause
- to devote to some occupation, pursuit, etc. to give one's life to art
- to concede; yield to give a point in an argument
- to offer or yield (oneself) to a man for sexual intercourse
- to show; exhibit to give every indication of being a fool
- to put forward for acceptance or rejection; offer; proffer to give a suggestion
- to perform to give a concert
- to introduce or present (a speaker, the subject of a toast, etc.)
- to make (a gesture, movement, etc.) to give a leap
- to perform (a physical act) to give someone a hug, kiss, etc.
- to administer or dispense (medicine, etc.)
- to utter, emit, or produce (words, sounds, etc.); put in words; state to give a reply
- to inflict or impose (punishment, sentence, etc.)
Etymology: ME given (with g- < ON gefa, to give), yeven < OE giefan, akin to Ger geben < IE base *ghabh-, to grasp, take > L habere, to have: the special Gmc sense of this base results from its use as a substitute for IE *dō- (as in L dare, to give)
intransitive verb
- to make gifts or donations; contribute
- to bend, sink, move, break down, yield, etc. from force or pressure
- to be springy; be resilient
- to provide a view of, or a way of getting to, someplace; open: usually with on, upon, or onto the window gives on the park
- Informal to occur; happenchiefly in the phrase what gives?
- Slang to abandon a claim, fight, etc.; give in or give up
noun
- a bending, moving, sinking, etc. under pressure
- a tendency to be springy; resilience
give and take
give away
- to make a gift of; donate; bestow
- in a marriage ceremony, to present (the bride) ritually to the bridegroom
- ☆ Informal to reveal, expose, or betray
give back
give forth
give in
- to hand in
- to abandon a claim, fight, or argument; surrender; yield
give it to
give off
give or take
give out
- to send forth or out; emit
- to cause to be known; make public
- to distribute
- to become worn out or used up; fail to last
give over
- to hand over
- to stop; cease
- to set apart for some purpose
give to understand (or believe, etc.)
give up
- to hand over; turn over; surrender
- to stop; cease
- to admit failure and stop trying
- to lose hope for; despair of
- to sacrifice; devote wholly
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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