givegive /gɪv/ verb (past tense gave /geɪv/, past participle given /ˈgɪvən/) 1 
to let someone have something► give
to let someone have something► give to allow someone to have something, especially as a present: Dad gave me his coat because I was cold. The spy gave secret information to the enemy. What did you give Angel for his birthday? ➔ Give can also mean “to put something in someone else’s hand”:Give me your phone for a minute - I need to call my mom. | Please give this note to your mother.
► let someone have something to give someone something that you have because he or she wants it or asks for it: My cousin let me have his old bike when he got a new one.
► share to let someone have part of something that belongs to you: Will you share some of your chips with me?
► hand to give something to someone else using your hand: We handed our ticket to the woman at the door.
► pass to take something from somewhere and put it into someone else’s hand: Could you pass me the ketchup?
► hand in to give something such as a piece of work to a teacher or employer: After you hand in your test, you may leave.
► submit AWL (formal) to give an official document such as a plan or application to someone so that he or she can think about it and decide whether to accept it: All applications must be submitted by the end of the month.
► dispense (formal) to give something to someone, especially a particular amount of something. You use dispense especially about medicine: Nurses dispense the medication at the same time every day.
ANTONYMS ➔ see take (2)2 to give something to all the members of a group► give also give out to let all the members of a group have something, especially when the thing you are giving is free or is a gift: Mrs. Roberts gave a piece of candy to each of the children. The store is giving people free samples of the cookies. The teacher gave out the workbooks. ➔ GRAMMAR: Give and give out mean the same thing, but you use them in different ways. You use give in the patterns “give someone something” or “give something to someone”: She gave the children candy. | She gave candy to the children.You use give out in the patterns “give out something”, “give something out” or "give something out to someone": When you are all done, I’ll give out the candy. | I’ll give the candy out. | I’ll give the candy out to the children.
► hand out also pass out to give something to each person in a group by putting it in their hand: There was a man outside the train station handing out newspapers. The teacher asked me to pass out the tests to the class.
► distribute AWL (formal) to give something to a large group of people, especially in an organized way: The charity is distributing clothes and blankets to the refugees.
► pass around to give something to one person, who then passes it to the next person in the group, so that everyone can see or use it: We passed the pictures around the room so everyone could see.
ANTONYMS ➔ see take (2)3 to give someone something that he or she needs or wants► give to let someone have something that he or she needs: The government is giving help to the flood victims. My dad gave me a lot of advice when I was learning to ski.
► provide (formal) to have something available for someone who needs it or wants it: The hotel provides free parking for its guests. Lunch will be provided at the meeting.
► serve to give someone food or drinks as part of a meal: The inn serves breakfast in the dining room until 10 a.m.
► deliver to take a letter or package somewhere and give it to someone: The mailman delivered the package to our house yesterday.
► pass to give someone information that someone else has given to you: The family stories have been passed from parents to children for several generations.
ANTONYMS ➔ see get (1)4 to give someone an award► give to decide which person should have an award and let him or her have it: The school gave Ms. Gray the “teacher of the year” award. They give the Nobel prize to people with outstanding achievements.
► present to give something to someone in a formal or official way, for example at a ceremony: The trophy will be presented to the winner by last year’s winner. He presented the winning team with a gold cup.
► award (formal) to officially give someone an award, especially as a reward for something he or she has done: The team members were awarded gold medals for their win.
ANTONYMS ➔ see get (1)5 to give money or things to help an organization do something► give to let an organization have money, food, or help that is needed to do something: The school needs a lot of money, so please give generously. After the earthquake, a lot of people gave money to the Red Cross.
► donate to give money, food, or clothes to an organization that needs help or is helping other people: Last year he donated $1,000 to cancer research.
► contribute AWL to give money or help to something that other people are also giving to: The volunteers contribute their own time to the project.
ANTONYMS ➔ see get (1) ➔ see assign ➔ see surrender ➔ see smell2 ➔ see stop1