Skip to definition.
Get the FREE one-click dictionary software for Windows.


Verb: give up
  1. Lose (s.th.) or lose the right to (s.th.) by some error, offence, or crime
    - forfeit, throw overboard, waive, forgo, forego
     
  2. Give up with the intent of never claiming again
    "She gave up her children to her ex-husband when she moved to Tahiti"
    - abandon
     
  3. Give up in the face of defeat of lacking hope; admit defeat
    "In the second round, the challenger gave up"
    - drop out, fall by the wayside, drop by the wayside, throw in, throw in the towel, quit, chuck up the sponge [US, non-standard]
     
  4. Put an end to a state or an activity
    - discontinue, stop, cease, quit, lay off
     
  5. Give up what is not strictly needed
    - spare, part with, dispense with
     
  6. Part with a possession or right
    - release, relinquish, resign, free
     
  7. Leave (a job, post, or position) voluntarily
    - vacate, resign, renounce
     
  8. Relinquish possession or control over
    - surrender, cede, deliver
     
  9. Give up or agree to forgo to the power or possession of another
    - surrender
     
  10. Stop maintaining or insisting on; of ideas or claims
    "Both sides have to give up some claims in these negotiations"
    - abandon
     
  11. Allow the other (baseball) team to score
    "give up a run"
    - allow
     
  12. Stop consuming
    "give up alcohol"
    - kick

Derived forms: gave up, giving up, given up, gives up

Type of: abandon, dispense with, forego, foreswear, forgo, gift, give, hand, leave office, pass, pass on, present, quit, reach, relinquish, resign, step down, turn over, waive, yield

Encyclopedia: Give up