give over

verb

gave over; given over; giving over; gives over

transitive verb

1
: cease
2
3
a
: to yield without restraint or control : abandon
gave themselves over to laughter
b
: to set apart for a particular purpose or use
4
archaic : to pronounce incurable

intransitive verb

British : to cease an activity : stop
told him to give over and let me aloneBrendan Behan

Examples of give over in a Sentence

his wife suggested that he give over working such long hours if it was making him so unhappy gave over his entire savings to an investor
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Angela Weiss | Afp | Getty Images The Lauder family, heirs to the Estee Lauder fortune, have given over $2 million to anti-Mamdani committees. Robert Frank, CNBC, 30 Oct. 2025 But the Emmy Award winner was also candid about his own mortality — and how many second chances at life he had been given over the years. Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 28 Oct. 2025 Being alive at the slop tipping point doesn’t feel like an emergency, exactly, but more like slowly giving over to a pervasive disorientation. Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 20 Oct. 2025 They were given over 30 hours of material on a thumbdrive, dash cam footage, body camera recordings, and clips from community Ring cameras, all of which were jumbled, out of date, and often missing the associated audio. Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for give over

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of give over was in the 14th century

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Cite this Entry

“Give over.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/give%20over. Accessed 1 Nov. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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