what gives

Slang definitions & phrases for what gives

what gives

sentence
  1. What is going on? WHAT'S UP: What gives, I asked her
  2. How are you? how have things been with you? WHAT DO YOU SAY
  3. What is wrong? I do not understand: ''What gives?'' he croaked in an annoyed tone •Since the early 1960s, this sense is often referred to a person: ''What gives with Joe?''; and is often an exasperated inquiry: ''What's bothering you? Why are you behaving this way?''

[1940+; a translation of Yiddish or German was gibt, ''what's going on'']


Idioms and Phrases with what gives

what gives

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