give up

Verb

Plain form give up

Third-person singular gives up

Past tense gave up

Past participle given up

Present participle giving up

1. (transitive) If you give up something (or give something up), you surrender it--you have it taken from you; or you give it away.

   His mom made him give up his toys to her! Now what is he going to do?

   The young woman gave up her seat to an old man

2. (transitive) If you give up on something (or give something up), you stop doing it; you quit; you lose hope about it.

   Once he graduated from high school, he gave up running.

   After the couldn't find his body, they gave him up for dead.

3. (intransitive) If you give up, you say you lost.

   After fighting for ten days, one side waved a white flag--they gave up.