give over

verb

gave over; given over; giving over; gives over

transitive verb

1

: cease

2

: entrust

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 alone

—Brendan Behan

Synonyms

• break
• break off
• break up
• can [slang]
• cease
• cut off
• cut out
• desist (from)
• discontinue
• drop
• end
• halt
• knock off
• lay off
• leave off
• pack (up or in)
• quit
• shut off
• stop

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

There’s really this enormous idea of giving over control to machines that a lot of people are just uneasy about. —John Werner, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025

After that, the bulk of his speech was given over to vague references to his own career struggles in Hollywood, which was telling, according to Belloni and Shaw. —Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2025

Last year, the company gave over 500,000 GBP to environmental and social causes. —Esha Chhabra, Forbes, 28 Feb. 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.com, 26 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

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

Rhymes for give over

• carryover
• changeover
• crossover
• cutover
• flashover
• hangover
• holdover
• layover
• leftover
• makeover
• moreover
• passover