give

[giv] /gɪv/
verb (used with object), gave, given, giving.
1.
to present voluntarily and without expecting compensation; bestow:
to give a birthday present to someone.
2.
to hand to someone:
Give me that plate, please.
3.
to place in someone's care:
If you give me your coat, I'll put it in the closet.
4.
to grant (permission, opportunity, etc.) to someone:
Give me a chance.
5.
to impart or communicate:
to give advice; to give a cold to someone.
6.
to set forth or show; present; offer:
He gave no reason for his lateness.
7.
to pay or transfer possession to another in exchange for something:
They gave five dollars for the picture. He gave me the car for $800.
8.
to furnish, provide, or proffer:
to give evidence; Let me give you my umbrella before you go out in this rain.
9.
to provide as an entertainment or social function:
to give a New Year's Eve party.
10.
to deal or administer:
to give a blow to someone; to give medicine to a patient.
11.
to put forth, emit, or utter; issue:
to give a cry; to give a command.
12.
to assign or admit as a basis of calculation or reasoning (usually used passively):
These facts being given, the argument makes sense.
13.
to produce, yield, or afford:
to give good results; 9 × 8 gives 72; The hen gave six eggs a week.
14.
to make, do, or perform:
to give a start; to give a lurch.
15.
to perform or present publicly:
to give a play; to give a concert.
16.
to cause; be responsible for (usually followed by an infinitive):
They gave me to understand that you would be there.
17.
to care about something to the value or extent of (something fanciful):
I don't give a hoot about his opinion.
18.
to relinquish or sacrifice:
to give one's life for a cause.
19.
to convey or transmit:
Give Aunt Betty my love.
20.
to assign or allot: Give every man a full ration of biscuits. They gave him the name of “Joseph.”.
21.
to bestow (the object of one's choice) upon, as if by providence:
Give me the wide open spaces anytime.
22.
to be connected with, as by a telephone operator:
Give me 235-7522.
23.
to present to an audience, as an entertainer, speaker, or act:
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the governor of Texas.
24.
to attribute or ascribe:
to give the devil his due; After long study the critic gave the unsigned work to a minor impressionist.
25.
to cause or occasion:
She gives me a pain in the neck.
26.
to apply fully or freely:
He gives his free time to golf.
27.
to award by verdict or after consideration:
A decision was given for the defendant.
28.
to inflict as a punishment on another; punish by; impose a sentence of:
The judge gave him five years.
29.
to pledge, offer as a pledge, or execute and deliver:
He gave her his promise. Can you give bond?
30.
to propose as the subject of a toast (followed by an indirect object):
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you our country.
31.
to bear to a man; deliver (followed by an indirect object):
She gave him a beautiful baby boy.
32.
to sire upon a woman; father (followed by an indirect object):
He gave her two children in the first five years of marriage.
33.
to concede or grant, as a point in an argument.
verb (used without object), gave, given, giving.
34.
to make a gift or gifts; contribute:
to give to the United Way.
35.
to yield somewhat, as to influence or force; compromise:
We can't negotiate until each side is willing to give on some points.
36.
to yield somewhat when subjected to weight, force, pressure, etc.:
A horsehair mattress doesn't give much.
37.
to collapse; break down; fall apart; fail:
The antique chair gave when I sat on it.
38.
to be warm and open in relationships with other persons:
a withdrawn person who doesn't know how to give.
39.
Informal. to divulge information:
Okay now, give! What happened?
40.
to afford a view or passage; face, open, or lead (usually followed by on, onto, etc.):
The window gives on the sea. This door gives onto the hallway.
noun
41.
the quality or state of being resilient; springiness.
Verb phrases
42.
give away,
  1. to give as a present; bestow.
  2. to present (the bride) to the bridegroom in a marriage ceremony.
  3. to expose or betray (a person).
  4. to reveal (a confidence or secret, hidden motives, true feelings, etc.):
    That remark gave away his real feelings.
43.
give back, to return (something), as to its owner; restore:
You haven't given back the books you borrowed from me.
44.
give birth to. birth (def 10).
45.
give in,
  1. to acknowledge defeat; yield.
  2. to hand in; deliver:
    Please give in your timecards.
46.
give of, to devote or contribute generously of:
to give of oneself; to give of one's abundance.
47.
give off, to put forth; emit:
The gardenia gives off a very strong fragrance.
48.
give out,
  1. to send out; emit.
  2. to make public; announce.
  3. to distribute; issue.
  4. to become exhausted.
  5. to become used up; fail:
    The fuel gave out.
  6. to do or express something, especially unrestrainedly or easily:
    to give out with a song.
49.
give over,
  1. to put into the care of; transfer:
    She gave over all her property to her daughter.
  2. to put an end to; stop:
    They will never give over their impossible dreams.
  3. to indulge in without restraint:
    She gave herself over to tears.
  4. to devote to a specified activity:
    The day was given over to relaxing in the sun.
50.
give up,
  1. to abandon hope; despair.
  2. to desist from; renounce:
    to give up smoking.
  3. to surrender; relinquish.
  4. to devote (oneself) entirely to:
    She gave herself up to her job and seldom saw her old friends.
  5. South Midland U.S. to consider; deem:
    She's given up to be the kindest woman around here.
Idioms
51.
give and take,
  1. to compromise in order to cooperate:
    A willingness to give and take is important for success in marriage.
  2. to exchange ideas:
    an informal meeting in which there would be opportunities to give and take.
52.
give battle. battle1 (def 10).
53.
give ground, to yield before superior force, as of arms or of reasoning.
54.
give it to, Informal. to reprimand or punish:
His father really gave it to him for coming home so late.
55.
give or take, plus or minus a specified amount; more or less:
It will cost $20, give or take a dollar or two.
56.
give rise to. rise (def 55).
57.
give way. way (def 26).
Origin
before 900; Middle English < Old Norse gefa (compare Danish give); replacing Middle English yeven, yiven, Old English gefan, giefan; cognate with Dutch geven, German geben, Gothic giban
Related forms
givable, giveable, adjective, noun
givee, noun
giver, noun
nongiving, adjective
regive, verb, regave, regiven, regiving.
self-giving, adjective
ungiveable, adjective
ungiving, adjective
Synonyms
1. offer, vouchsafe, impart, accord, furnish, provide, supply, donate, contribute. Give, confer, grant, present may mean that something concrete or abstract is bestowed on one person by another. Give is the general word: to give someone a book, permission, etc. Confer usually means to give an honor or a favor; it implies courteous and gracious giving: to confer a degree. Grant is limited to the idea of acceding to a request; it may apply to the bestowal of privileges, or the fulfillment of an expressed wish: to grant a charter, a prayer, permission, etc. Present, a more formal word than give, usually implies a certain ceremony in the giving: to present a citation to a regiment. 18. cede, yield.
Antonyms
1. receive.

ground1

[ground] /graʊnd/
noun
1.
the solid surface of the earth; firm or dry land:
to fall to the ground.
2.
earth or soil:
stony ground.
3.
land having an indicated character:
rising ground.
4.
Often, grounds. a tract of land appropriated to a special use:
picnic grounds; a hunting ground.
5.
Often, grounds. the foundation or basis on which a belief or action rests; reason or cause:
grounds for dismissal.
6.
subject for discussion; topic:
Sex education is forbidden ground in some school curricula.
7.
rational or factual support for one's position or attitude, as in a debate or argument:
on firm ground; on shaky ground.
8.
the main surface or background in painting, decorative work, lace, etc.
9.
Fine Arts.
  1. a coating of some substance serving as a surface for paint, ink, or other media in art:
    Lead white is a traditional ground for oil paintings.
  2. ground color (def 2).
10.
(in perception) the background in a visual field, contrasted with the figure.
11.
Also called etching ground. an acid-resistant substance, composed of wax, gum, and resin in varying proportions, applied to the entire surface of an etching plate and through which the design is drawn with an etching needle.
12.
grounds, dregs or sediment:
coffee grounds.
13.
grounds, the gardens, lawn, etc., surrounding and belonging to a building.
14.
Electricity. a conducting connection between an electric circuit or equipment and the earth or some other conducting body.
15.
Music. ground bass.
16.
Nautical. the bottom of a body of water.
17.
the earth's solid or liquid surface; land or water.
18.
Carpentry.
  1. a strip of wood to which woodwork can be attached, set flush with the plaster finish of a room.
  2. a strip of wood or length of corner bead used at an opening as a stop for plasterwork.
adjective
19.
situated on or at, or adjacent to, the surface of the earth:
a ground attack.
20.
pertaining to the ground.
21.
Military. operating on land:
ground forces.
verb (used with object)
22.
to lay or set on the ground.
23.
to place on a foundation; fix firmly; settle or establish; found.
24.
to instruct in elements or first principles:
to ground students in science.
25.
to furnish with a ground or background, as on decorative work.
26.
to cover (wallpaper) with colors or other materials before printing.
27.
Electricity. to establish a ground for (a circuit, device, etc.).
28.
Nautical. to cause (a vessel) to run aground.
29.
Aeronautics. to restrict (an aircraft or the like) to the ground because of bad weather, the unsatisfactory condition of the aircraft, etc.
30.
to forbid (a pilot) to fly because of bad health, failure to comply with safety regulations, or the like.
31.
Informal. to put out of action or make unable to participate:
The quarterback was grounded by a knee injury.
32.
Informal. to restrict the activities, especially the social activities, of:
I can't go to the party—my parents have grounded me until my grades improve.
verb (used without object)
33.
to come to or strike the ground.
34.
Baseball.
  1. to hit a ground ball.
  2. to ground out.
Verb phrases
35.
ground out, Baseball. to be put out at first base after hitting a ground ball to the infield.
Idioms
36.
break ground,
  1. to plow.
  2. to begin excavation for a construction project.
  3. to begin upon or take preparatory measures for any undertaking.
37.
cover ground,
  1. to pass or travel over a certain area.
  2. to make a certain amount of progress in dealing with a piece of work, subject, treatise, or the like:
    He talked for two hours without covering much ground.
38.
cut the ground from under, to render (an argument, position, person, etc.) ineffective or invalid; refute:
It didn't require much effort to cut the ground from under that case.
39.
from the ground up,
  1. gradually from the most elementary level to the highest level:
    She learned the business from the ground up.
  2. extensively; thoroughly:
    The professor knew his subject from the ground up.
40.
gain ground,
  1. to make progress; advance.
  2. to gain approval or acceptance:
    The case for air-pollution control is gaining ground throughout the country.
41.
give ground, to yield to force or forceful argument; retreat:
The disarmament talks reached an impasse when neither side would give ground on inspection proposals.
42.
hold / stand one's ground, to maintain one's position; be steadfast:
The referee stood his ground, though his decision was hotly contested by the crowd.
43.
into the ground, beyond a reasonable or necessary point:
You've stated your case, and you needn't run it into the ground.
44.
lose ground,
  1. to retreat or be forced back.
  2. to lose one's advantage; suffer a reverse.
  3. to wane in popularity or acceptance; begin to fail:
    Our candidate is losing ground in industrial areas.
45.
off the ground, Informal. into action or well under way:
The play never got off the ground.
46.
on one's own ground, in an area or situation that one knows well.
47.
on the ground, at the place of interest or importance; actively engaged:
Minutes after the bank robbery reporters were on the ground to get the story.
48.
shift ground, to change position in an argument or situation.
49.
suit down to the ground, to be perfectly satisfactory; please greatly:
This climate suits me down to the ground.
50.
take the ground, Nautical. to become grounded at low water.
51.
to ground,
  1. into a den, burrow, shelter, or the like:
    a fox gone to ground.
  2. into concealment or hiding:
    Rather than take the witness stand, she went to ground in another country.
Origin
before 900; (noun) Middle English grownd, grund, Old English grund; cognate with Dutch grond, German Grund; (v.) Middle English grundien, grownden to set on a foundation, establish, derivative of the noun
Related forms
groundable, adjective
groundably, adverb
groundedly, adverb
groundedness, noun
groundward, groundwards, adverb, adjective
ungroundable, adjective
Can be confused
ground, grounds.
British Dictionary definitions for give ground

give

/ɡɪv/
verb (mainly transitive) gives, giving, gave (ɡeɪv), given (ˈɡɪvən)
1.
(also intransitive) to present or deliver voluntarily (something that is one's own) to the permanent possession of another or others
2.
(often foll by for) to transfer (something that is one's own, esp money) to the possession of another as part of an exchange: to give fifty pounds for a painting
3.
to place in the temporary possession of another: I gave him my watch while I went swimming
4.
when intr, foll by of. to grant, provide, or bestow: give me some advice
5.
to administer: to give a reprimand
6.
to award or attribute: to give blame, praise, etc
7.
to be a source of: he gives no trouble
8.
to impart or communicate: to give news, give a person a cold
9.
to utter or emit: to give a shout
10.
to perform, make, or do: the car gave a jolt and stopped
11.
to sacrifice or devote: he gave his life for his country
12.
to surrender: to give place to others
13.
to concede or yield: I will give you this game
14.
(intransitive) (informal) to happen: what gives?
15.
(often foll by to) to cause; lead: she gave me to believe that she would come
16.
(foll by for) to value (something) at: I don't give anything for his promises
17.
to perform or present as an entertainment: to give a play
18.
to propose as a toast: I give you the Queen
19.
(intransitive) to yield or break under force or pressure: this surface will give if you sit on it, his courage will never give
20.
give as good as one gets, to respond to verbal or bodily blows to at least an equal extent as those received
21.
give battle, to commence fighting
22.
(often foll by to) give birth
  1. to bear (offspring)
  2. to produce, originate, or create (an idea, plan, etc)
23.
(slang) give a person five, give a person some skin, to greet or congratulate someone by slapping raised hands
24.
give ground, to draw back or retreat
25.
(slang) give it up for someone, to applaud someone
26.
(Brit, slang) give someone one, to have sex with someone
27.
give rise to, to be the cause of
28.
(informal) give me, I prefer: give me hot weather any day!
29.
give or take, plus or minus: three thousand people came, give or take a few hundred
30.
give way, See way (sense 24)
31.
(informal) give a person what for, to punish or reprimand a person severely
noun
32.
a tendency to yield under pressure; resilience: there's bound to be some give in a long plank, there is no give in his moral views
See also give away, give in, give off, give onto, give out, give over, give up
Derived Forms
givable, giveable, adjective
giver, noun
Word Origin
Old English giefan; related to Old Norse gefa, Gothic giban, Old High German geban, Swedish giva

ground1

/ɡraʊnd/
noun
1.
the land surface
2.
earth or soil: he dug into the ground outside his house
3.
(pl) the land around a dwelling house or other building
4.
(sometimes pl) an area of land given over to a purpose: football ground, burial grounds
5.
land having a particular characteristic: level ground, high ground
6.
matter for consideration or debate; field of research or inquiry: the lecture was familiar ground to him, the report covered a lot of ground
7.
a position or viewpoint, as in an argument or controversy (esp in the phrases give ground, hold, stand, or shift one's ground)
8.
position or advantage, as in a subject or competition (esp in the phrases gain ground, lose ground, etc)
9.
(often pl) reason; justification: grounds for complaint
10.
(arts)
  1. the prepared surface applied to the support of a painting, such as a wall, canvas, etc, to prevent it reacting with or absorbing the paint
  2. the support of a painting
  3. the background of a painting or main surface against which the other parts of a work of art appear superimposed
11.
  1. the first coat of paint applied to a surface
  2. (as modifier): ground colour
12.
the bottom of a river or the sea
13.
(pl) sediment or dregs, esp from coffee
14.
(mainly Brit) the floor of a room
15.
(cricket)
  1. the area from the popping crease back past the stumps, in which a batsman may legally stand
  2. ground staff
16.
See ground bass
17.
a mesh or network supporting the main pattern of a piece of lace
18.
(electrical, US & Canadian)
  1. a connection between an electrical circuit or device and the earth, which is at zero potential
  2. Also called earth. a terminal to which this connection is made
19.
above ground, alive
20.
below ground, dead and buried
21.
break new ground, to do something that has not been done before
22.
cut the ground from under someone's feet, to anticipate someone's action or argument and thus make it irrelevant or meaningless
23.
(Brit, informal) to the ground, down to the ground, completely; absolutely: it suited him down to the ground
24.
(informal) get off the ground, to make a beginning, esp one that is successful
25.
go to ground, to go into hiding
26.
into the ground, beyond what is requisite or can be endured; to exhaustion
27.
meet someone on his own ground, to meet someone according to terms he has laid down himself
28.
the high ground, the moral high ground, a position of moral or ethical superiority in a dispute
29.
touch ground
  1. (of a ship) to strike the sea bed
  2. to arrive at something solid or stable after discussing or dealing with topics that are abstract or inconclusive
30.
(modifier) situated on, living on, or used on the ground: ground frost, ground forces
31.
(modifier) concerned with or operating on the ground, esp as distinct from in the air: ground crew, ground hostess
32.
(modifier) (used in names of plants) low-growing and often trailing or spreading
verb
33.
(transitive) to put or place on the ground
34.
(transitive) to instruct in fundamentals
35.
(transitive) to provide a basis or foundation for; establish
36.
(transitive) to confine (an aircraft, pilot, etc) to the ground
37.
(transitive) (informal) to confine (a child) to the house as a punishment
38.
the usual US word for earth (sense 16)
39.
(transitive) (nautical) to run (a vessel) aground
40.
(transitive) to cover (a surface) with a preparatory coat of paint
41.
(intransitive) to hit or reach the ground
Word Origin
Old English grund; related to Old Norse grunn shallow, grunnr, grund plain, Old High German grunt

ground2

/ɡraʊnd/
verb
1.
the past tense and past participle of grind
adjective
2.
having the surface finished, thickness reduced, or an edge sharpened by grinding
3.
reduced to fine particles by grinding
Word Origin and History for give ground

give

v.

Old English giefan (W. Saxon) "to give, bestow; allot, grant; commit, devote, entrust," class V strong verb (past tense geaf, past participle giefen), from Proto-Germanic *gebanan (cf. Old Frisian jeva, Middle Dutch gheven, Dutch geven, Old High German geban, German geben, Gothic giban), from PIE *ghabh- "to take, hold, have, give" (see habit). It became yiven in Middle English, but changed to guttural "g" by influence of Old Norse gefa "to give," Old Danish givæ. Meaning "to yield to pressure" is from 1570s.

Give in "yield" is from 1610s; give out is mid-14c., "publish, announce;" meaning "run out, break down" is from 1520s. Give up "surrender" is mid-12c. To give (someone) a cold seems to reflect the old belief that one could be cured of disease by deliberately infecting others. What gives? "what is happening?" is attested from 1940. Give-and-take (n.) is originally from horse racing (1769) and refers to races in which bigger horses were given more weight to carry, lighter ones less. General sense attested by 1778.

ground

n.

Old English grund "bottom, foundation, ground, surface of the earth," especially "bottom of the sea" (a sense preserved in run aground), from Proto-Germanic *grundus, which seems to have meant "deep place" (cf. Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish grund, Dutch grond, Old High German grunt, German Grund "ground, soil, bottom;" Old Norse grunn "a shallow place," grund "field, plain," grunnr "bottom"). No known cognates outside Germanic. Sense of "reason, motive" first attested c.1200; electrical sense is from 1870.

v.

mid-13c., "to put on the ground, to strike down to the ground," from ground (n.). Of ships, "to run into the ground," from mid-15c. Meaning "to base" (an argument, sermon, etc.) is late 14c. Meaning "deny privileges" is 1940s, originally a punishment meted out to pilots (in which sense it is attested from 1930). Related: Grounded; grounding.

adj.

"reduced to fine particles by grinding," 1765, past participle adjective from grind.

give ground in Science
ground
  (ground)   

  1. A connection between an electrical conductor and the Earth. Grounds are used to establish a common zero-voltage reference for electric devices in order to prevent potentially dangerous voltages from arising between them and other objects. Also called earth.

  2. The set of shared points in an electrical circuit at which the measured voltage is taken to be zero. The ground is usually connected directly to the power supply and acts as a common "sink" for current flowing through the components in the circuit.


Slang definitions & phrases for give ground

give

interjection

A command to speak, to explain, etc: She said, ''Give!,'' so I told all (1956+)

Related Terms

what gives


ground

Related Terms

beat to the ground, down to the ground, not know one's ass from one's elbow, not know someone or something from a hole in the ground, run something into the ground, stamping ground


Idioms and Phrases with give ground

give ground

Yield to a stronger force, retreat, as in He began to give ground on that point, although he didn't stop arguing entirely. This expression originated in the 1500s, when it alluded to a military force retreating and so giving up territory to the enemy. By the mid-1600s it was being used figuratively.

give

also see:
and
have

ground

also see: