1. To make a present of: We gave her flowers for her birthday.

2. To place in the hands of; pass: Give me the scissors.

3. a. To deliver in exchange or recompense; pay: will give five dollars for the book. b. To let go for a price; sell.

4. a. To administer: give him some cough medicine. b. To convey by a physical action: gave me a punch in the nose. c. To inflict as punishment: gave the child a spanking; was given life imprisonment for the crime. d. Law. To accord by verdict: A decision was given for the plaintiff.

5. a. To bestow, especially officially; confer: The Bill of Rights gives us freedom of speech. b. To accord or tender to another: Give him your confidence. c. To put temporarily at the disposal of: gave them the cottage for a week. d. To entrust to another, usually for a specified reason: gave me the keys for safekeeping. e. To convey or offer for conveyance: Give him my best wishes. f. Law. To execute and deliver. Used especially in the phrase give bond.

6. a. To endure the loss of; sacrifice: gave her son to the war; gave her life for her country. b. To devote or apply completely: gives herself to her work. c. To furnish or contribute: gave their time to help others. d. To offer in good faith; pledge: Give me your word.

7. a. To allot as a portion or share. b. To bestow as a name. c. To attribute (blame, for example) to someone; assign. d. To award as due: gave us first prize.

8. To emit or utter: gave a groan; gave a muted response.

9. To submit for consideration, acceptance, or use: give an opinion; give an excuse.

10. a. To proffer to another: gave the toddler my hand. b. To consent to engage (oneself) in sexual intercourse with a man.

11. a. To perform for an audience: give a recital. b. To present to view: gave the sign to begin.

12. a. To offer as entertainment: give a dinner party. b. To propose as a toast.

13. a. To be a source of; afford: His remark gave offense. Music gives her pleasure. b. To cause to catch or be subject to (a disease or bodily condition): The draft gave me a cold. c. To guide or direct, as by persuasion or behavior. Used with an infinitive phrase: You gave me to imagine you approved of my report.

14. a. To yield or produce: Cows give milk. b. To bring forth or bear: trees that give fruit. c. To produce as a result of calculation: 5 12 gives 60.

15. a. To manifest or show: gives promise of brilliance; gave evidence of tampering. b. To carry out (a physical movement): give a wink; give a start.

16. To permit one to have or take: gave us an hour to finish.

17. To take an interest to the extent of: "My dear, I don't give a damn" (Margaret Mitchell).

1. To make gifts or donations: gives generously to charity.

2. a. To yield to physical force. b. To collapse from force or pressure: The roof gave under the weight of the snow. c. To yield to change: Both sides will have to give on some issues.

3. To afford access to or a view of; open: The doors give onto a terrace.

4. Slang. To be in progress; happen: What gives?

1. Capacity or inclination to yield under pressure.

2. The quality or condition of resilience; springiness: "Fruits that have some give . . . will have more juice than hard ones" (Elizabeth Schneider).

1. To make a gift of.

2. To present (a bride) to the bridegroom at a wedding ceremony.

3. a. To reveal or make known, often accidentally. b. To betray.

1. To hand in; submit: She gave in her report.

2. To cease opposition; yield.

1. To allow to be known; declare publicly: gave out the bad news.

2. To send forth; emit: gave out a steady buzzing.

3. To distribute: gave out the surplus food.

4. To stop functioning; fail.

5. To become used up or exhausted; run out: Their determination finally gave out.

1. To hand over; entrust.

2. a. To devote to a particular purpose or use: gave the day over to merrymaking. b. To surrender (oneself) completely; abandon: finally gave myself over to grief.

1. a. To surrender: The suspects gave themselves up. b. To devote (oneself) completely: gave herself up to her work.

2. a. To cease to do or perform: gave up their search. b. To desist from; stop: gave up smoking.

3. To part with; relinquish: gave up the apartment; gave up all hope.

4. a. To lose hope for: We had given the dog up as lost. b. To lose hope of seeing: We'd given you up an hour ago.

5. To admit defeat.

6. To abandon what one is doing or planning to do. Often used with on: gave up on writing the novel.

1. To bear as offspring.

2. To be the origin of: a hobby that gave birth to a successful business.

1. To show to be inaccurate or untrue.

2. To accuse of lying.

1. a. To retreat or withdraw. b. To yield the right of way: gave way to an oncoming car. c. To relinquish ascendancy or position: as day gives way slowly to night.

2. a. To collapse from or as if from physical pressure: The ladder gave way. b. To yield to urging or demand; give in.

3. To abandon oneself: give way to hysteria.