585
gizmo
[+obj(i)+obj(d)] Give us a song! | We are giving John a party for
his birthday. OTHER MEANINGS 9 [T] to set aside (time,
thought, strength etc) for a purpose: They have given their
lives in the cause of preserving democracy. | [+obj(i)+obj(d)] You
must give more attention to your work/give your work more
attention. | The unemployment problem must now be given top
priority. 10 [T+obj(i)+obj(d)] to punish in the stated way, espe-
cially to send to prison for the stated time: The judge gave
her two years. | He was given a life sentence for murder. | The
boy was given a beating for stealing the
money. 11 [T+obj(i)+obj(d)] infml to admit the truth of: It's too
late to go to the party, I give you that. But we could go
somewhere else. 12 [T+obj+to-v; often pass.] fml to cause to
believe, especially wrongly, because of information given:
They gave me to understand they would wait for me, but they
left without me. | I was given to understand that he was
ill. 13 [T+obj(i)+obj(d)] to offer as an excuse or explanation:
Don't give me that nonsense about your bad
leg! 14 [T+obj(i)+obj(d)] especially BrE to call on (people present)
to drink to the health of; ask (people) to drink a TOAST to:
Gentlemen, I give you the President! 15 [T+obj+adv; often pass.]
BrE (in certain games) to declare (a player or ball) to be in the
stated condition: The centre forward was given offside. | The
linesman gave the ball out. 16 [I] to bend or stretch under
pressure: The branch he was sitting on began to give. | fig.)
There's a lot of tension in the international situation at
present; something has got to give soon. → see also GIVE²
FIXED PHRASES 17 give as good as one gets to answer or
fight with force equal to that of one's opponent in an
argument or fight 18 give it to someone (straight) infml to
tell someone something unpleasant (in a direct
way) 19 give me (something) I like (something) best: Give
me a nice old house any day/every time. (=I like old houses
much better than new ones.) 20 give or take (a certain
amount) (a certain amount) more or less: It will take an
hour, give or take a few minutes (either way). 21 I/he/they/
etc don't/couldn't give a damn/hoot/etc infml I/he/they/etc
don't care at all: He couldn't give a damn about her. | [+wh-] I
don't give a damn how you do it, so long as it gets done. 22 I/
he/they/etc would give a lot/anything/the world etc I/he/
they/etc would very much like (to do or have something):
The boys would give anything to meet that football player. | I'd
give my right arm to be able to sing like that! 23 it is better
to give than to receive quote a slightly changed phrase from
the Bible 24 What gives? infml (used for showing surprise)
What's happening? → see also give way (WAY¹) —giver n
PHRASAL VERBS
give sbdy./sthg. ⇔ away phr v [T] 1 to get rid of by giving:
She gave away all her money to the poor. | No one wants to buy
last year's fashions; you can't even give them away. | fig.) He
gave away (=lost carelessly) his last chance of winning the
election when he said the wrong thing on TV. 2 to give
ceremonially; PRESENT: The local MP will give away the
prizes at the school speech day. 3 [to)] to give information
about; tell (a secret): Someone in the gang gave him away to
the police. | [+wh-] She made me promise not to give away
where it was hidden. | I'll tell you our plan to surprise David if
you promise not to give the game away. 4 to show the truth
about; REVEAL: She tried to appear indifferent, but her eyes
gave her away. 5 to officially hand over (a woman) to her
husband at a wedding: Mary was given away by her father. →
see also GIVEAWAY
give sthg. ⇔ back phr v [T(to)] to return (something) to its
owner or original possessor: Give it back (to me). |
[+obj(i)+obj(d)] Give me back my pen. | The operation gave her
back the use of her legs.
give in phr v [to)] 1 [I] to give way; allow oneself to be
beaten; SURRENDER: The boys fought until one gave in. | Don't
give in to their demands. | I gave in to temptation and had a
cigarette. 2 [T(= give sthg. ⇔ in)] to deliver; hand in: Give your
exam papers in (to the teacher) when you've finished.
give of sthg. phr v [T] fml to give (time, effort etc) without
expecting anything in return: They have given unstintingly
of their time and money to help the poor.
give off sthg. phr v [T] to send out (especially a liquid, gas, or
smell); EMIT: The eggs were giving off a bad smell.
give on/onto sthg. phr v [T no pass.] BrE to have a view of, or
lead straight to: That door gives onto the garden.
give out phr v 1 [T(to) (give sthg. ⇔ out)] to give to each of
several people; DISTRIBUTE: Give out the exam papers. | Give
the money out to the children. 2 [T(give sthg. ⇔ out)] especially BrE
to make known publicly; ANNOUNCE: The date of the election
will be given out soon. | [+that] They gave out on the radio that
the president had died. 3 [T(give out sthg.)] to send out (espe-
cially a noise): The radio is giving out a strange signal. | She
gave out a yell. 4 [I] to come to an end; be completely used
up: Our supply of sugar has given out. | My strength gave
out. 5 [I] infml to stop working; break down: The engine gave
out.
give over (sthg.) phr v [I;T+v-ing; often imperative] BrE infml to stop
(doing something): Do give over! I'm sick of your
complaints! | Give over hitting your little brother!
give over to phr v [T] 1 [give sthg. over to sthg.)] to set (a time
or place) apart for a particular purpose or use: The building
was given over to the youth club. | The evening was given over
to singing and dancing. 2 [give sbdy./sthg. over to sthg.)] to give
(oneself or something) completely to: After her husband's
death she gave herself over to her work. | He gave his life over
to helping people.
give up phr v 1 [I;T(= give sthg. ⇔ up)] to stop having or
doing: 'Do you smoke?' 'No, I gave up last year.' | The doctor
told him to give up alcohol. | He had to give up his studies
through lack of money. | [+v-ing] I've given up eating
meat. 2 [I] to stop attempting something; admit defeat: I
give up (=I can't guess); tell me the end of the story. | All the
girls swam across the lake except two, who gave up half-
way. 3 [T(give sbdy. up)] to stop believing that (someone) can
be saved, especially from death: The doctors had almost
given her up when she made a dramatic recovery. | The boy
was given up for dead. 4 [T(give sbdy. ⇔ up)] to stop having a
relationship with: She gave up a lot of her friends when she
got married. 5 [T(to) (give sbdy. up)] to offer (someone or
oneself) as a prisoner: The murderer gave himself up (to the
police). 6 [T(to) (give sthg. ⇔ up)] to deliver or allow to pass (to
someone else): We had to give up the town (to the enemy). |
Give your seat up to the old lady, Jimmy. 7 don't give up the
day job also don't quit the day job AmE — a humorous
expression used in order to say that someone who is trying
out a new activity or skill is not very good at it yet: Well I
like his paintings, but I wouldn't advise him to give up the day
job! | I love doing the modelling work, but I'm not quitting the
day job yet! → see also give up the ghost (GHOST¹)
give up on sbdy. phr v [T no pass.] infml to have no further
hope for: I give up on you: you'll never get anywhere with that
attitude.
give sbdy. up to sthg. phr v [T] to allow (oneself) to feel
completely the effects of: She had given herself up to despair.
give² n [U] the quality of bending, stretching, or loosening
under pressure: Shoes get larger after wearing because of the
give in the leather. | There was too much give in the rope, and
she slipped and fell. → see also GIVE¹
give-and-take n [U] willingness of each person to give way
to (some of) the other's wishes; willingness to COMPROMISE:
There has to be a lot of give-and-take in any successful mar-
riage.
give-a-way¹ /'gɪvəweɪ/ n 1 [S] infml something uninten-
tional that makes a secret known: She tried to hide her
feelings, but the tears in her eyes were a dead give-
away. 2 [C] something given in a shop with a certain
product to encourage people to buy that product → see also
GIVE AWAY
giveaway² adj [A] infml (of a price) very low
giv-en¹ /'gɪvən/ adj 1 [A] fixed for a purpose and stated as
such: The work must be done at/within the given time. | In a
circle, the distance from the centre to the edge is the same at
any given point. 2 be given to to be in the habit of or to
have a tendency to: He's given to drinking rather heavily. |
She's given to depression.
given² prep if one takes into account: Given their inexperi-
ence, they've done a good job. | [+that] Given that they're
inexperienced, they've done a good job. → see also GIVE¹
'given name n especially AmE for FIRST NAME
Gi-za /'gi:zə/ a city in Egypt, which was important in ancient
times. The PYRAMIDS and the SPHINX are in the desert near
Giza.
giz-mo /'gɪzməʊ/ n GISMO