give
English[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English given, from Old Norse gefa (“to give”), from Proto-Germanic *gebaną (“to give”). Merged with native Middle English yiven, ȝeven, from Old English ġiefan, from the same Proto-Germanic source (compare the obsolete inherited English doublet yive).
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
give (third-person singular simple present gives, present participle giving, simple past gave, past participle given)
- (ditransitive) To move, shift, provide something abstract or concrete to someone or something or somewhere.
- To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone).
- I gave him my coat.
- I gave my coat to the beggar.
- When they asked, I gave my coat.
- To make a present or gift of.
- I'm going to give my wife a necklace for her birthday.
- She gave a pair of shoes to her husband for their anniversary.
- He gives of his energies to the organization.
- To pledge.
- I gave him my word that I'd protect his children.
- To provide (something) to (someone), to allow or afford.
- I gave them permission to miss tomorrow's class.
- Please give me some more time.
- To cause (a sensation or feeling) to exist in.
- It gives me a lot of pleasure to be here tonight.
- The fence gave me an electric shock.
- My mother-in-law gives me nothing but grief.
- To carry out (a physical interaction) with (something).
- I want to give you a kiss.
- She gave him a hug.
- I'd like to give the tire a kick.
- I gave the boy a push on the swing.
- She gave me a wink afterwards, so I knew she was joking.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698, page 68:
- Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway, […] .
- To pass (something) into (someone's hand, etc.).
- Give me your hand.
- On entering the house, he gave his coat to the doorman.
- To cause (a disease or condition) in, or to transmit (a disease or condition) to.
- My boyfriend gave me chlamydia.
- He was convinced that it was his alcoholism that gave him cancer.
- a. 1700, William Temple, “Heads, Designed for an Essay on Conversation”, in Miscellanea. The Third Part. [...], London: […] Jonathan Swift, […] Benjamin Tooke, […], published 1701, OCLC 23640974, page 331:
- Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
- To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone).
- (ditransitive) To estimate or predict (a duration or probability) for (something).
- I give it ten minutes before he gives up.
- I give it a 95% chance of success.
- I'll give their marriage six months.
- (intransitive) To yield slightly when a force is applied.
- 1992, Garry Wills, “prologue”, in Lincoln at Gettysburg, page 21:
- A soldier noticed how earth "gave" as he walked over the shallow trenches.
- (intransitive) To collapse under pressure or force.
- One pillar gave, then more, and suddenly the whole floor pancaked onto the floor below.
- (transitive) To provide, as, a service or a broadcast.
- They're giving my favorite show!
- 2003, Iain Aitken, Value-Driven IT Management: Commercializing the IT Function, page 153
- […] who did not have a culture in which 'giving good presentation' and successfully playing the internal political game was the way up.
- 2006, Christopher Matthew Spencer The Ebay Entrepreneur, page 248
- A friendly voice on the phone welcoming prospective new clients is a must. Don't underestimate the importance of giving good "phone".
- 2022, Adam Morton and Peter Hannam The Guardian
- “I’m absolutely confident that [the battery] will be done in time in 2025 to … ensure that we can give the lights on,” Kean [of Australia] said.
- (intransitive) To lead (onto or into).
- The master bedroom gives onto a spacious balcony.
- (transitive, dated) To provide a view of.
- His window gave the park.
- To exhibit as a product or result; to produce; to yield.
- The number of men, divided by the number of ships, gives four hundred to each ship.
- To cause; to make; used with the infinitive.
- c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene viii], page 171:
- But there the duke was given to understand / That in a gondola were seen together / Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica.
- To cause (someone) to have; produce in (someone); effectuate.
- 1997, Jim Smoke, How a Man Measures Success, page 82:
- "Can do" gives me a choice, while "should do" gives me a complex.
- To allow or admit by way of supposition; to concede.
- He can be bad-tempered, I'll give you that, but he's a hard worker.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book 2”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- I give not heaven for lost.
- To attribute; to assign; to adjudge.
- 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, page 6:
- I don't wonder at people giving him to me for a lover.
- To communicate or announce (advice, tidings, etc.); to pronounce or utter (an opinion, a judgment, a shout, etc.).
- The umpire finally gave his decision: the ball was out.
- (dated or religion) To grant power, permission, destiny, etc. (especially to a person); to allot; to allow.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Deuteronomy 12:1:
- These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lᴏʀᴅ God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.
- 1700, Nicholas Rowe, The Ambitious Stepmother, page 13:
- once again
'Tis given me to behold my friend.
- 1725, Homer; [Alexander Pope], transl., “Book III”, in The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, OCLC 8736646:
- Then give thy friend to shed the sacred wine.
- (reflexive) To devote or apply (oneself).
- The soldiers give themselves to plunder.
- That boy is given to fits of bad temper.
- (obsolete) To become soft or moist.
- 1590, John Smyth, A Discourse […] concerning […] weapons:
- Some moyst weather hath‥caused the powder to give and danke.
- (obsolete) To shed tears; to weep.
- c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene iii], page 94:
- Whose eyes do never give / But through lust and laughter.
- (obsolete) To have a misgiving.
- c. 1608-1634, John Webster, Appius and Virginia, page 16
- My mind gives ye're reserv'd / To rob poor market women.
- c. 1608-1634, John Webster, Appius and Virginia, page 16
- (slang) To be going on, to be occurring
Usage notes[edit]
- In older forms of English, when the pronoun thou was in active use, and verbs used -est for distinct second-person singular indicative forms, the verb give had the form givest, and had gavest for its past tense.
- Similarly, when the ending -eth was in active use for third-person singular present indicative forms, the form giveth was used.
Conjugation[edit]
infinitive | give | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
present participle | giving | ||||||||||
past participle | given | ||||||||||
simple | progressive | perfect | perfect progressive | ||||||||
present | I give | we give | I am giving | we are giving | I have given | we have given | I have been giving | we have been giving | |||
you give | you give | you are giving | you are giving | you have given | you have given | you have been giving | you have been giving | ||||
he gives | they give | he is giving | they are giving | he has given | they have given | he has been giving | they have been giving | ||||
past | I gave | we gave | I was giving | we were giving | I had given | we had given | I had been giving | we had been giving | |||
you gave | you gave | you were giving | you were giving | you had given | you had given | you had been giving | you had been giving | ||||
he gave | they gave | he was giving | they were giving | he had given | they had given | he had been giving | they had been giving | ||||
future | I will give | we will give | I will be giving | we will be giving | I will have given | we will have given | I will have been giving | we will have been giving | |||
you will give | you will give | you will be giving | you will be giving | you will have given | you will have given | you will have been giving | you will have been giving | ||||
he will give | they will give | he will be giving | they will be giving | he will have given | they will have given | he will have been giving | they will have been giving | ||||
conditional | I would give | we would give | I would be giving | we would be giving | I would have given | we would have given | I would have been giving | we would have been giving | |||
you would give | you would give | you would be giving | you would be giving | you would have given | you would have given | you would have been giving | you would have been giving | ||||
he would give | they would give | he would be giving | they would be giving | he would have given | they would have given | he would have been giving | they would have been giving | ||||
imperative | give |
Synonyms[edit]
- (transfer possession of): See Thesaurus:give
- (bend slightly when a force is applied): bend, cede, flex, move, yield, split
- (estimate or predict): estimate, guess, predict
- (provide):
Antonyms[edit]
- (transfer possession of): get, obtain, receive, take
- (bend slightly when a force is applied): not bend/cede/flex/give/move/yield, resist
Derived terms[edit]
See also given, giver and giving
- begive
- foregive
- forgive
- give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime
- give and take
- give away
- give away the store
- give back
- give birth
- give forth
- give ground
- give head
- give in
- give it one's all
- give it one's best shot
- give it up for
- given
- give off
- give one's all
- give one's daughter away
- give on to
- give or take
- give out
- give over
- give pause
- give someone a break
- give someone a chance
- give someone a kiss
- give someone grief
- give someone the business
- give someone the time of day
- give something a miss
- give something a shot
- give something a try
- give thanks
- give to understand
- give up
- give vent to
- give way
- givee
- it is better to give than to receive
- overgive
- something's got to give
- upgive
- what gives?
- you only get what you give
Translations[edit]
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun[edit]
give (uncountable)
- The amount of bending that something undergoes when a force is applied to it; a tendency to yield under pressure; resilence.
- This chair doesn't have much give.
- There is no give in his dogmatic religious beliefs.
Translations[edit]
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Etymology 2[edit]
Noun[edit]
give (plural gives)
- Alternative form of gyve
References[edit]
- give at OneLook Dictionary Search
Danish[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- gi' (representing the spoken language)
Etymology[edit]
From Old Norse gefa, from Proto-Germanic *gebaną, cognate with English give and German geben. The Germanic verbs go back to Proto-Indo-European *gʰebʰ- (“to give”) (hence Sanskrit गभस्ति (gábhasti, “arm”)); rather than *gʰeh₁bʰ- (“to grab”) (whence Latin habeō (“to have”)).
Pronunciation[edit]
Verb[edit]
give (imperative giv, present tense giver, past tense gav, past participle givet, c given, givne)
- to give
Conjugation[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Swedish[edit]
Verb[edit]
give
Anagrams[edit]
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʰebʰ-
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old Norse
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Old English
- English doublets
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɪv
- Rhymes:English/ɪv/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English verbs
- English ditransitive verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English dated terms
- en:Religion
- English reflexive verbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English slang
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English class 5 strong verbs
- English irregular verbs
- Danish terms inherited from Old Norse
- Danish terms derived from Old Norse
- Danish terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Danish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Danish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Danish formal terms
- Rhymes:Danish/iː
- Rhymes:Danish/iːvɐ
- Rhymes:Danish/iːvɐ/2 syllables
- Danish lemmas
- Danish verbs
- Danish class 5 strong verbs
- Swedish non-lemma forms
- Swedish verb forms