gave
Definition
- Verb (past tense of "give"):
- To have freely transferred possession of: "gave" is the past tense of "give," meaning to have handed something over to someone without payment or expectation of return.
- To have provided or supplied: It indicates that something was offered or made available to someone in the past.
- To have performed an action: Used in past contexts to describe having done something, such as a gesture or verbal expression.
Usage Examples
- To have transferred possession:
- She gave him a book for his birthday. (She handed a book to him as a gift.)
- To have provided or supplied:
- The teacher gave the students extra homework. (The teacher assigned additional work to the students.)
- To have performed an action:
- He gave a loud laugh at the joke. (He laughed loudly in response to the humour.)
- To have caused or produced:
- The sun gave us warmth and light. (The sun provided heat and illumination.)
Advanced Usage
- "gave way": yielded or collapsed under pressure.
- The bridge gave way under the weight of the truck. (The bridge collapsed because it could not support the load.)
- "gave up": stopped trying or surrendered.
- After hours of searching, they gave up looking for the lost keys. (They ceased their effort to find the keys.)
- "gave in": yielded to demands or persuasion.
- He finally gave in to his children's pleas for ice cream. (He agreed to their request after resisting.)
- "gave out": stopped functioning or was exhausted.
- The engine gave out after years of use. (The engine stopped working due to age or wear.)
Variants and Related Words
- Give (verb, base form): the present tense form.
- I give you my word. (I promise you.)
- Given (past participle): used in perfect tenses or as an adjective.
- She has given her approval. (She has granted permission.)
- Under the given conditions, we succeeded. (Under the specified circumstances.)
- Gift (noun): something given voluntarily without payment.
- He received a gift from his friend. (He got a present.)
Synonyms
- Handed over: to have passed something to someone.
- He handed over the documents. (He gave the papers to another person.)
- Presented: to have offered something formally.
- She presented the award to the winner. (She gave the prize in a ceremony.)
- Donated: to have given something, especially to a charity.
- They donated money to the hospital. (They gave funds for a cause.)
Phrasal Verbs (with "give")
- Give away: to give something for free or reveal a secret.
- She gave away her old clothes. (She donated them.)
- He gave away the surprise ending. (He revealed it unintentionally.)
- Give back: to return something to its owner.
- Please give back the book you borrowed. (Return it.)
- Give off: to emit or produce something, like a smell or light.
- The flowers gave off a sweet fragrance. (They produced a pleasant scent.)
Related Idioms
- Give someone the cold shoulder: to ignore someone deliberately.
- After the argument, she gave him the cold shoulder. (She treated him with indifference.)
- Give the benefit of the doubt: to believe someone's statement without proof.
- I gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was telling the truth. (I trusted him despite uncertainty.)
- Give a hand: to help someone.
- Could you give me a hand with this box? (Can you assist me?)