gave up

VERB

admit defeat

Synonyms

WEAK

abandon back down bail out bow out buckle under capitulate cave in cease cede chicken out collapse comply concede cry uncle cut out desist despair drop drop like a hot potato fold forswear hand over leave off pull out quit relinquish resign stop submit surrender take the oath throw in the towel waive walk out on wash one's hands of yield

Antonyms

WEAK

fight hold out stand up to withstand

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It's said that McTominay did not give up on United but that United gave up on McTominay.

From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026

Another employee did her best to introduce me to “Minecraft” though I gave up after five minutes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026

Both gave up House seats to run for governor and now risk being out of office next year if Evette shuts them out.

From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026

Julie strung the scammer along for two hours before he gave up.

From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026

Frederick and Bruno once tried to dig down to their hoard but gave up after they dug twelve feet and still couldn’t see a thing.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff