give
/ˈɡɪv/ verb, noun
Forms gives giving gave given givest gavest giveth giv yive
- verb To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone). “I gave him my coat.”
- verb To make a present or gift of. “I'm going to give my wife a necklace for her birthday.”
- verb To pledge. “I gave him my word that I'd protect his children.”
- verb To provide (something) to (someone), to allow or afford. “I gave them permission to miss tomorrow's class.”
- verb To cause (a sensation or feeling) to exist in (the specified person, or the target, audience, etc.). “It gives me a lot of pleasure to be here tonight.”
- verb (slang, transitive) To give off (a certain vibe or appearance). (Compare giving.) “it's giving old Hollywood (vibes)”
- verb To carry out (a physical interaction) with (something). “I want to give you a kiss and a hug.”
- verb To pass (something) into (someone's hand, etc.). “Give me your hand.”
- noun The amount of bending that something undergoes when a force is applied to it; a tendency to yield under pressure; resilience. “This chair doesn't have much give.”
Synonyms
give way bend cede flex move yield allow concede grant accord add assign award bestow bequeath confer contribute deliver do donate spring springiness afford pay hold throw have make gift present
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English given, yeven, yiven, ȝiven, from merger of Old English ġefan, ġeofan, ġiefan, ġifan, ġiofan, ġyfan (“to give”) and Old Norse gefa (“to give”), from Proto-Germanic *gebaną (“to give”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ- (“to give; to take”). Displaced yive, from Middle English yiven, of the same origin, from influence of Old Norse gefa.
Cognate with Yola gee, ye, yie, yive (“to give”), Scots gie (“to give”), North Frisian gjiuwe, iiv, jiiw, jiw, jeewe (“to give”), West Frisian jaan (“to give”), Alemannic German gë (“to give”), Bavarian gebn (“to give”), Central Franconian jevve (“to give”), Cimbrian gem, ghèban (“to give”), Dutch geven (“to give”), German geben (“to give”), Luxembourgish ginn (“to give”), Vilamovian gaon (“to give”), Yiddish געבן (gebn, “to give”), Danish give (“to give”), Elfdalian djävå (“to give”), Faroese geva (“to give”), Icelandic gefa (“to give”), Norwegian Bokmål gi (“to give”), Norwegian Nynorsk gi, giva, gje, gjeva, gjeve (“to give”), Swedish ge, gifva, giva (“to give”), Gothic 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (giban, “to give”); also Greek κεφάλι (kefáli), κεφαλή (kefalí, “head”), Lithuanian gobti (“cover up; to grab, snatch”), Polish gabać (“to touch; to tap; to accost”), Serbo-Croatian ха̏бати, hȁbati (“to abrade, wear out”), Sanskrit गभस्ति (gabhasti, “shining”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To bestow without receiving a return; to confer without compensation; to impart, as a possession; to grant, as authority or permission; to yield up or allow.
- verb To yield possesion of; to deliver over, as property, in exchange for something; to pay; as, we give the value of what we buy. What shall a man give in exchange for his soul Matt. xvi. 26.
- verb To give a gift or gifts.
- verb To yield to force or pressure; to relax; to become less rigid; as, the earth gives under the feet.
Etymology [OE. given, yiven, yeven, AS. gifan, giefan; akin to D. geven, OS. g, OHG. geban, Icel. gefa, Sw. gifva, Dan. give, Goth. giban. Cf. Gift, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “give”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details