Definition

1. Verb (Intransitive):
   • To stop functioning or collapse: To cease operating correctly, often due to failure, pressure, or force. This can apply to mechanical objects, physical structures, or abstract systems.
   • To yield or surrender: To stop resisting pressure, force, or an opposing demand.
   • To move aside or be replaced: To make space for someone or something else, or to be succeeded by something different.

Usage Examples

• Referring to mechanical/structural failure:
  • The old wooden bridge gave way under the weight of the truck.
  • After years of use, the clutch in the car finally gave way.
• Referring to yielding or ceasing resistance:
  • After a long negotiation, the company gave way to the union's demands.
  • The dam gave way after days of heavy rainfall.
• Referring to moving aside or being replaced:
  • The narrow path gave way to a wide, open field.
  • Please give way to allow the ambulance to pass.

Advanced Usage

• "to give way to [emotion/feeling]": To allow oneself to be overcome by a particular emotion.
  • He finally gave way to despair after hearing the news.
• In traffic contexts: Used as an instruction meaning to yield right of way to another vehicle or pedestrian.
  • At a roundabout, you must give way to traffic from your right.

Variants and Related Words

• Yield (verb): Often used synonymously, especially in contexts of surrendering, producing, or allowing other traffic to go first.
• Collapse (verb): To fall down or give way suddenly.
• Succumb (verb): To fail to resist pressure, temptation, or a negative force.
• Cede (verb): To give up power or territory formally.

Synonyms

• Fail
• Break down
• Buckled
• Submit
• Retreat
• Make room

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Give in: To cease fighting or arguing; to surrender. (Often used interchangeably with "give way" in the context of yielding, but "give in" is more commonly used for arguments or persuasion).
  • The government refused to give in to the terrorists' demands.
• Give up: To stop trying; to surrender or relinquish.
  • Don't give up on your dreams.

Related Idioms

• Give way to temptation: To stop resisting a desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise.
  • He gave way to temptation and ate the entire cake.
• Give the right of way: To have the legal right to proceed first in traffic.
  • Pedestrians have the right of way at this crossing.

Verb

1. stop operating or functioning
   • The engine finally went
   • The car died on the road
   • The bus we travelled in broke down on the way to town
   • The coffee maker broke
   • The engine failed on the way to town
   • her eyesight went after the accident
2. end resistance, as under pressure or force
   • The door yielded to repeated blows with a battering ram
3. break down, literally or metaphorically
   • The wall collapsed
   • The business collapsed
   • The dam broke
   • The roof collapsed
   • The wall gave in
   • The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice
4. move in order to make room for someone for something
   • The park gave way to a supermarket
   • `Move over,' he told the crowd