GIVE UP | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
/ Sign up
English (UK)

Meaning of give up in English

give up

phrasal verb with give verb
uk
/ɡɪv/ us
/ɡɪv/
gave | given
Add to word list Add to word list
to stop trying to guess:
You'll never guess the answer - do you give up?
I give up - how many were there?
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Accepting & agreeing reluctantly
See more results »

give up something

phrasal verb with give verb
uk
/ɡɪv/ us
/ɡɪv/
gave | given
to stop owning, using, or claiming something:
They were forced to give up their home because they couldn't pay the mortgage.
give up hope
to stop hoping that a particular thing will happen:
give up hope of We still haven't given up hope of finding her alive.
See more
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Abstaining and refraining
See more results »

give up (something)

phrasal verb with give verb
uk
/ɡɪv/ us
/ɡɪv/
gave | given
B2
to stop doing something before you have finished it, usually because it is too difficult:
[ + -ing verb ] I've given up trying to help her.
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Stop having or doing something
See more results »

give (something) up

phrasal verb with give verb
uk
/ɡɪv/ us
/ɡɪv/
gave | given
B1
If you give up a habit, such as smoking, or something such as alcohol, you stop doing it or using it:
[ + -ing verb ] I gave up smoking two years ago.
Don't offer him a cigarette, he's trying to give it up.
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Abstaining and refraining
See more results »

give something up

phrasal verb with give verb
uk
/ɡɪv/ us
/ɡɪv/
gave | given
B1
to stop doing a regular activity or job:
[ + -ing verb ] He's given up driving since his illness.
We're going to give up our sports club membership after this year.
give it up for someone
used to ask people to clap their hands to show their enjoyment or approval of a performance:
Ladies and gentlemen, will you give it up for Danny Jones.
See more
More examplesFewer examples
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Stop having or doing something
See more results »

give someone up

phrasal verb with give verb
uk
/ɡɪv/ us
/ɡɪv/
gave | given

(END FRIENDSHIP)

to stop having a friendship with someone:
She seems to have given up all her old friends.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Stop having or doing something
See more results »

(NOT EXPECT)

(also give up on someone)
to stop expecting that someone will arrive:
I've been waiting half an hour - I'd almost given up on you.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Stop having or doing something
See more results »
give someone up for dead (also give up on someone)
to think that someone is certain to die or to be dead:
The doctors had virtually given her up for dead, but she eventually recovered.
See more

give yourself up

phrasal verb with give verb
uk
/ɡɪv/ us
/ɡɪv/
gave | given
to allow the police or an enemy to take you as a prisoner:
The gunman gave himself up to the police.
See also
give yourself over/up to something
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Stop having or doing something
See more results »
(Definition of give up from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

give up (something) | American Dictionary

give up (something)

phrasal verb with give verb
us
/ɡɪv/
present participle giving | past tense gave | past participle given
Add to word list Add to word list
to stop doing or to stop having something:
He gave up jogging after his heart attack.
To give up also means to lose or be defeated:
Although behind in the chess match, he refused to give up.
“Can you guess what actor I’m pretending to be?” “No, I give up (= I can’t guess).”
(Definition of give up from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

give up | Business English

give up

phrasal verb with give verb [ I or T ]
uk
/ɡɪv/ us
past tense gave | past participle given
Add to word list Add to word list
to stop trying to do something before you have finished, usually because it is too difficult:
She has a struggle trying to persuade the board to accept her proposal, but she's determined not to give up.
(Definition of give up from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Translations of give up

in Chinese (Traditional)
放棄猜測, 認輸, 放棄（某物的所有權或使用權）…
See more
in Chinese (Simplified)
放弃猜测, 认输, 放弃（某物的所有权或使用权）…
See more
in Spanish
abandonar, abandonar algo, dejar algo…
See more
in Portuguese
render-se, desistir (de fazer algo), parar de fazer algo…
See more
in more languages
in Turkish
in French
in Japanese
in Dutch
in Czech
in Danish
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Ukrainian
in Russian
cevabını aramaktan vazgeçmek, çözmekten vazgeçmek, bırakmak…
See more
abandonner, laisser tomber, arrêter…
See more
あきらめる, やめる…
See more
opgeven, (zich) overgeven, besteden…
See more
zanechat, vzdát se, zříci se…
See more
holde op, opgive, give afkald på…
See more
berhenti, menghentikan, menyerahkan…
See more
หยุดทำ, เลิก, ยอมยกให้…
See more
từ bỏ, ngừng làm, trao…
See more
poddać się, zrezygnować, zaprzestać…
See more
sluta, upphöra, sluta med…
See more
menghentikan, berhenti, menyerahkan…
See more
aufgeben, widmen…
See more
gi opp, slutte, gi opp/avkall på…
See more
відмовлятися від, покидати, передавати…
See more
сдаваться…
See more
Need a translator?

Get a quick, free translation!

Translator tool
 

Browse

give something/someone the once-over phrase
give the game away idiom
give the green light to something idiom
give the lie to something idiom
give up
give up hope phrase
give up on someone/something
give up the ghost idiom
give utterance to something phrase
has been added to list
To top
Contents
EnglishAmericanBusinessTranslations
English (UK)   Change
English (UK) English (US) Español Русский Português Deutsch Français Italiano 中文 (简体) 正體中文 (繁體) Polski 한국어 Türkçe 日本語 Tiếng Việt Nederlands Svenska Dansk Norsk हिंदी বাঙ্গালি मराठी ગુજરાતી தமிழ் తెలుగు Українська
Follow us
Choose a dictionary
  • Recent and Recommended
  • Definitions
    Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English
    English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
  • Grammar and thesaurus
    Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English
    Grammar Thesaurus
  • Pronunciation
    British and American pronunciations with audio
    English Pronunciation
  • Translation
    Click on the arrows to change the translation direction.
    Bilingual Dictionaries
    • English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
    • English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
    • English–Dutch Dutch–English
    • English–French French–English
    • English–German German–English
    • English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
    • English–Italian Italian–English
    • English–Japanese Japanese–English
    • English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
    • English–Polish Polish–English
    • English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
    • English–Spanish Spanish–English
    • English–Swedish Swedish–English
    Semi-bilingual Dictionaries
    English–Arabic English–Bengali English–Catalan English–Czech English–Danish English–Gujarati English–Hindi English–Korean English–Malay English–Marathi English–Russian English–Tamil English–Telugu English–Thai English–Turkish English–Ukrainian English–Urdu English–Vietnamese
  • Dictionary +Plus
    Word Lists
Contents
My word lists

To add give up to a word list please sign up or log in.

Sign up or Log in
My word lists

Add give up to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

More
Go to your word lists
Tell us about this example sentence: