Adjacent Words

give up definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: lose (s.th.) or lose the right to (s.th.) by some error, offense, or crime; "you've forfeited your right to name your successor"; "forfeited property" [syn: forfeit, give up, throw overboard, waive, forgo, forego] [ant: arrogate, claim, lay claim]
2: give up with the intent of never claiming again; "Abandon your life to God"; "She gave up her children to her ex- husband when she moved to Tahiti"; "We gave the drowning victim up for dead" [syn: abandon, give up]
3: give up in the face of defeat of lacking hope; admit defeat; "In the second round, the challenger gave up" [syn: drop out, give up, fall by the wayside, drop by the wayside, throw in, throw in the towel, quit, chuck up the sponge] [ant: enter, participate]
4: put an end to a state or an activity; "Quit teasing your little brother" [syn: discontinue, stop, cease, give up, quit, lay off] [ant: bear on, carry on, continue, preserve, uphold]
5: give up what is not strictly needed; "he asked if they could spare one of their horses to speed his journey" [syn: spare, give up, part with, dispense with]
6: part with a possession or right; "I am relinquishing my bedroom to the long-term house guest"; "resign a claim to the throne" [syn: release, relinquish, resign, free, give up]
7: leave (a job, post, or position) voluntarily; "She vacated the position when she got pregnant"; "The chairman resigned when he was found to have misappropriated funds" [syn: vacate, resign, renounce, give up]
8: relinquish possession or control over; "The squatters had to surrender the building after the police moved in" [syn: surrender, cede, deliver, give up]
9: give up or agree to forgo to the power or possession of another; "The last Taleban fighters finally surrendered" [syn: surrender, give up] [ant: hold out, resist, stand firm, withstand]
10: stop maintaining or insisting on; of ideas or claims; "He abandoned the thought of asking for her hand in marriage"; "Both sides have to give up some claims in these negotiations" [syn: abandon, give up]
11: allow the other (baseball) team to score; "give up a run" [syn: give up, allow]
12: stop consuming; "kick a habit"; "give up alcohol" [syn: kick, give up]

Merriam Webster's

verb Date: 13th century transitive verb 1. to yield control or possession of ; surrender <forced to give up his job> 2. to desist from ; abandon <refused to give up her efforts> 3. to declare incurable or insoluble 4. a. to abandon (oneself) to a particular feeling, influence, or activity <gave himself up to despair> b. to devote to a particular purpose or use 5. to despair of seeing <we'd given you up> 6. to allow (a hit or run in baseball) while pitching intransitive verb to cease doing or attempting something especially as an admission of defeat ; quit — often used with on <don't give up on the project>

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you give up something, you stop doing it or having it. Coastguards had given up all hope of finding the two divers alive. ...smokers who give up before 30. PHRASAL VERB: V P n/-ing, V P 2. If you give up, you decide that you cannot do something and stop trying to do it. After a fruitless morning sitting at his desk he had given up. PHRASAL VERB: V P 3. If you give up your job, you resign from it. She gave up her job to join her husband's campaign... He is thinking of giving up teaching. PHRASAL VERB: V P n/-ing (not pron), V P n/-ing (not pron) 4. If you give up something that you have or that you are entitled to, you allow someone else to have it. Georgia refuses to give up any territory... One of the men with him gave up his place on the bench. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V P n (not pron) 5. If you give yourself up, you let the police or other people know where you are, after you have been hiding from them. A 28-year-old man later gave himself up and will appear in court today. PHRASAL VERB: V pron-refl P

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. (Active.) 1. Resign, relinquish, yield, surrender. 2. Abandon, forsake, leave, quit, cease from, give over. 3. Consider hopeless, consider lost, give over. II. (Neuter.) Yield, surrender, give in, cry quits, cry quarter.

Moby Thesaurus

abandon, abandon hope, abdicate, abjure, acknowledge defeat, back down, be at sea, be innocent of, be lost, be pensioned, be superannuated, break off combat, break the habit, cave in, cease, cease resistance, cede, come off, coquet with, cry quits, cut out, dabble, demit, desist, desist from, despair, despair of, despond, discontinue, disgorge, dispense with, dispose of, disuse, do without, drop, dump, falter, forgo, forswear, get along without, get rid of, give away, give ground, give in, give over, give up hope, give way, hand, hand over, have done with, have no idea, kick, kiss good-bye, know a little, know not, know not what, know nothing of, lay down, leave, leave off, let go, lose heart, lose hope, make a sacrifice, make nothing of, nol-pros, not know, not pursue with, not rightly know, not understand, part with, pass, pension off, put behind one, quit, quit the field, quitclaim, recant, relinquish, render up, renounce, renounce the throne, resign, retire, retire from office, retract, sacrifice, scratch the surface, shake, sink into despair, smatter, spare, stand aside, stand down, step aside, stop, superannuate, surrender, swear off, take the pledge, throw off, throw up, toy with, vacate, waive, withdraw from, wonder, wonder whether, wot not of, yield, yield to despair