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give up

/ˌɡɪv ˈʌp//ˌɡɪv ˈʌp/·phrasal verb
to stop trying; to surrender effort, hope, or a habit
Fig. 1 — I watch someone set a shoulder against a heavy block and drive, trying to shove it the last stretch toward a light just past it.
01Definition

To give up is to stop trying — the everyday, colloquial way to say the effort has ended. It aims at striving rather than things: you give up hope, give up smoking, give up on a dream, give up a seat. Where pursue presses on and achieve carries the effort through to its end, give up is the moment the pushing stops. It can mean a healthy letting-go of a habit, or simple defeat; either way, something that was being reached for is released.

02In use
  • iAfter three rejections she almost gave up, then sent out one more application.
  • iiHe gave up smoking the day his daughter was born.
  • iiiDon't give up just because your first attempt to achieve it fell short.
03Collocations
  • give up hope
  • give up smoking
  • give up trying
  • never give up
  • give up on someone
04Relations

=surrender, quit, abandon, concede, stop

≠persist, pursue, persevere, continue

05Compared
PairThe difference
give up vs abandonleave a thing behind → abandon; stop trying → give up (you give up ON a person, but abandon them).
give up vs achievepush through to the finish → achieve; stop trying → give up.
give up vs desertlet down something you owed loyalty to → desert; simply stop trying → give up.
give up vs forsakesolemnly renounce something dear → forsake; simply stop trying → give up.
give up vs keepstop and let go → give up; hold on and carry on → keep.

Also compared with leave behind, pursue, relinquish

06TOEFL & IELTS

Colloquial; for an academic register reach for abandon, relinquish or 'cease' instead. It is phrasal — give up + noun or gerund (give up trying), and give up ON a person or goal. Note the contrast with pursue and persist, which keep the effort going. Don't write 'give up to do something'.

07Asked
Is it 'give up' or 'give-up'?
The verb is two words, no hyphen: 'don't give up', 'she gave up smoking'. The hyphen appears only when the phrase acts as a noun or adjective before another noun — 'a give-up mentality', 'the no-give-up attitude'. The rule is general: phrasal verbs stay open as verbs and hyphenate when they modify a noun.
Is 'give up to do something' correct?
No — give up takes an -ing form, not a to-infinitive. Say 'she gave up trying', never 'gave up to try'. If you mean you stopped in order to do something else, you need a different structure entirely ('she stopped in order to rest'). With give up, whatever follows directly is a gerund: give up smoking, give up hoping.
What should I write instead of 'give up' in an essay?
Give up is colloquial, so formal writing reaches for abandon (abandon a plan), relinquish (relinquish a claim), forgo, or cease. 'The government abandoned the scheme' reads a band above 'gave up on the scheme' in IELTS or TOEFL. Keep give up for speaking, where its plainness is an asset, not a weakness.
Does 'give up' always mean failure?
No — it splits two ways. It can mean defeat (giving up on a dream), or a healthy, deliberate letting-go (giving up smoking, giving up your seat). The scene above is the defeat sense — someone who stops shoving the block and slides down it — but 'giving up' a bad habit is a quiet victory. Context and object tell you which.
What is the past tense of 'give up'?
Gave up for the simple past ('he gave up halfway'), given up for the participle ('she has given up'). It inherits the irregular forms of give: give, gave, given. Only the 'give' part changes; the 'up' stays put — 'he gived up' is wrong, and so is 'he gave upped'.
What is the difference between 'give up' and 'abandon'?
The quick tell: give up is colloquial and aims at effort or striving being released, while abandon is broader and more neutral, and can leave a physical thing behind. The full contrast, with both animated scenes, is on the abandon vs give up page in the 'Compared' list above.