lexicow

give up

/ˌɡɪv ˈʌp//ˌɡɪv ˈʌp/·phrasal verb
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. It will not move. They strain, reset, strain again — and then they stop, turn, and let their back come to rest against the very block they could not shift. They slide down it to sit at its foot, knees drawn up, head sinking onto them. The light beyond thins and goes out, because nothing is reaching for it any more.
|

Definition

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.

Examples

  • After three rejections she almost gave up, then sent out one more application.
  • He gave up smoking the day his daughter was born.
  • Don't give up just because your first attempt to achieve it fell short.

Collocations

give up hope·give up smoking·give up trying·never give up·give up on someone

Synonyms

surrender·quit·abandon·concede·stop

Antonyms

persist·pursue·persevere·continue

In TOEFL & 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'.