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give up

phraseB12 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To give up is to stop trying because it feels too hard. The point where effort stops.

It works alone and with an object, and it also means to abandon a habit, so giving up smoking is the commonest use of all in January. There is a third sense of surrendering, since a suspect gives themselves up. And giving up your seat means offering it to somebody else, which is a small courtesy the phrase describes exactly. The one instruction attached to it is never give up.

Definitions of give up

  1. 1phrasegive upTo stop trying at something.B1

    “Do not give up before you have finished.”

  2. 2phrasehabitualTo stop doing something habitual.B1

    “He decided to give up caffeine for a month.”

Also accepted in games: quit

Practised in Everyday Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 7 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word