give

give a blank check to someone Go to give

someone a blank check.

give a good account of oneself to do

(something) well or thoroughly. John

gave a good account of himself when he

gave his speech last night. Mary was not

hungry, and she didn’t give a good account

of herself at dinner.

give-and-take flexibility; willingness to

compromise. Don’t expect any give-

and-take when you are negotiating with

Roger. There was no question of give-

and-take in the contract talks. They would

not budge on their demands one little bit.

give (an) ear to someone or something and

give one’s ear to someone or something to lis-

ten to someone or to what someone is

saying. (Compare this with get someone’s

ear.) I gave an ear to Mary so she could

tell me her problems. She wouldn’t give

her ear to my story. He gave ear to the

man’s request.

give birth to someone or some creature to bring

a baby or other offspring into the world

through birth. Mary gave birth to a

lovely baby girl. The raccoon gave birth

to 6 little raccoons.

give birth to something to give rise to or

start something. The composer gave

birth to a new kind of music. They gave

birth to a new view of language.

give carte blanche to someone Go to give

someone carte blanche.

give chase (to someone or something) to chase

someone or something. The dogs gave

chase to the fox. A mouse ran by, but the

cat was too tired to give chase. The po-

lice gave chase to the robber.

give credit where credit is due to give

credit to someone who deserves it; to ac-

knowledge or thank someone who de-

serves it. We must give credit where

credit is due. Thank you very much, Sally.

Let’s give credit where credit is due.

Mary is the one who wrote the report, not

Jane.

give free rein to someone and give some-

one free rein to allow someone to be

completely in charge (of something).

(See also get a free hand (with someone or

something).) The boss gave the manager

free rein with the new project. The prin-

cipal gave free rein to Mrs. Brown in her

classes.

give ground to retreat (literally or figura-

tively). When I argue with Mary, she

never gives ground. I approached the

barking dog, but it wouldn’t give ground.

give her the gun Go to give it the gun.

give in (to someone or something) to yield to

someone or something; to give up to

someone or something. He argued and

argued and finally gave in to my demands.

I thought he’d never give in.

Give it a rest. Stop talking and give your

mouth a rest. (Informal.) Shut up, Bob!

Give it a rest! Give it a rest. You talk too

much.

give it the gun and give her the gun to

make a motor or engine run faster; to rev

up an engine. (Informal or slang. The her

is often pronounced “er.”) BILL:

How fast will this thing go? BOB: I’ll give

it the gun and see. Hurry up, driver.

Give ’er the gun. I’ve got to get there

immediately.

Give it time. Be patient.; In time, things

will change for the better or for the

worse. Things will get better. Don’t

worry. Give it time. Of course, things

will improve. Give it time.

Give it up. Give up.; Stop trying. It’s no

use trying any more. Give it up. You will

never get this car to start. Give it up.

give of oneself to be generous with one’s

time and concern. Tom is very good

with children because he gives of himself.

If you want to have more friends, you

have to learn to give of yourself.

Give one an inch, and one will take a

mile. A person who is granted a little of

something (such as a reprieve or le-

nience) will want more. (Proverb.) I

told John he could turn in his paper one

day late, but he turned it in three days late.

Give him an inch, and he’ll take a mile.

First we let John borrow our car for a

day. Now he wants to go on a two-week va-

cation. If you give him an inch, he’ll take

a mile.

give one a run for one’s money 1. to give

one what one deserves, expects, or wants.

(See also get a run for one’s money.)

High school football gives me a run for my

money. I invest in the stock market, and

that really gives me a run for my money.

2. give one a challenge. That was some

argument. Bill gave John a run for his money

Tom likes to play cards with

Mary because she always gives him a run

for his money.

give one butterflies in one’s stomach to

cause someone to have a nervous stom-

ach. (See also get butterflies in one’s stom-

Tests give me butterf lies in my

stomach. It was not frightening enough

to give me butterf lies in my stomach, but

it made me a little apprehensive.

give one one’s freedom to set someone free;

to divorce someone. Mrs. Brown

wanted to give her husband his freedom.

Well, Tom, I hate to break it to you this

way, but I have decided to give you your

freedom.

give one one’s walking papers to fire

someone; to give someone the sack. (In-

formal. See also get one’s walking papers.)

Tom has proved unsatisfactory. I de-

cided to give him his walking papers. We

might even give Sally her walking papers,

too

give one’s ear to someone or something Go to

give (an) ear to someone or something.

give out with something to utter or say

something. (Informal. Also with have.

See the examples below.) Suddenly, the

dog gave out with a horrible growl. At

that point, John gave out with a comment

about how boring it all was. Come on,

tell me. Have out with it!

give rise to something to cause something.

The bad performance gave rise to many

complaints. The new law gave rise to vi-

olence in the cities.

give someone a bang and give someone a

charge; give someone a kick to give

someone a bit of excitement. (Informal.)

John always gives me a bang.

whole afternoon, with all its silliness, gave

me a charge anyway.

give someone a big send-off to see some-

one off on a journey with celebration and

encouragement. (See also get a big send-

When I left for college, all my

brothers and sisters came to the airport to

give me a big send-off. When the sailors

left, everyone went down to the docks and

gave them a big send-off.

give someone a black eye 1. to hit some-

one near the eye so that a dark bruise ap-

pears. John became angry and gave me

a black eye. The door began to swing

closed as I approached and it gave me a

black eye. 2. to harm the character or rep-

utation of someone. (See also get a black

eye) The constant complaining gave the

whole group a black eye. His behavior

gave him a black eye with the manager.

give someone a bright idea to give someone

a clever thought or idea. That gives me

a bright idea! Thank you for giving me

a bright idea.

give someone a bum steer to give someone

misleading instructions or guidance; to

make a misleading suggestion. (Slang.

Bum = false; phony. Steer = guidance, as

in the steering of a car.) Max gave Ted

a bum steer and Ted ended up in the wrong

town. Someone gave me a bum steer and

I paid far more than I needed to for a used

car.

give someone a buzz Go to give someone a

ring.

give someone a charge Go to give someone

a bang.

give someone a clean bill of health [for a

doctor] to pronounce someone well and

healthy. The doctor gave Sally a clean

bill of health. I had hoped to be given a

clean bill of health, but there was some-

thing wrong with my blood test results.

give someone a dirty look [for a person] to

frown or make an angry face at someone.

Ann gave me a dirty look. I gave her

a dirty look back.

give someone a fair shake to give someone

fair treatment. He’s unpleasant, but we

have to give him a fair shake. We give

all our people a fair shake.

give someone a fix on something to tell some-

one the location of something. (See also

get a fix on something.) Please give me a

fix on your location.  If you give the

tower a fix on where you are, they can ad-

vise you on runway selection.

give someone a free hand (with something)

to give someone complete control over

something. (See also get a free hand

(with someone or something).) They gave

me a free hand with the project. I feel

proud that they gave me a free hand. That

means that they trust my judgment.

give someone a hand (for something) to ap-

plaud someone for something. After

she sang, they gave her a nice hand.

Come on, give them a hand. They did very

well

give someone a hard time to give someone

unnecessary difficulty. Please don’t give

me a hard time. The clerk gave me a

hard time, so I walked out.

give someone a head start (on someone or

something) 1. [with someone] to allow

someone to start (something) earlier

than someone else. They gave Bill a

head start on everyone else, so he arrived

early. Please give me a head start on

Charles. He is too fast! 2. [with some-

thing] to allow someone to start some-

thing earlier (than someone else). We’ll

give you a head start on the project. I

need a head start on the test because I lost

my glasses.

give someone a kick Go to give someone a

bang.

give someone a licking to beat someone.

Bill give Tom a licking in a fight. I’ll give

you a good licking if you don’t leave me

alone.

give someone a line and feed someone a

line to lead someone on; to deceive

someone with false talk. Don’t pay any

attention to John. He gives everybody a

line. He’s always feeding us a line.

give someone a pain to annoy or bother

someone. (Slang.) Here comes Sally.

Oh, she gives me a pain. She’s such a

pest. She really gives me a pain.

give someone a pat on the back Go to pat

someone on the back.

give someone a rain check (on something)

1. to give someone a piece of paper al-

lowing admission to an event—which has

been canceled—at a later time.

game was canceled because of the rain, but

they gave everyone rain checks.

were not able to show the film, so everyone

was given a rain check. 2. to tell some-

one that an invitation to a social event

will be reissued at a later date. We

couldn’t go to the Smiths’ party, so they

gave us a rain check. We are sorry we

cannot attend, but we would love for you

to give us a rain check on another date. 3.

to issue a piece of paper that allows one

to purchase an item on sale at a later date.

If you have no more of the sale sham-

poo, will you give me a rain check on it,

please? Can I have a rain check on this

item? You don’t have enough of it in stock.

give someone a raw deal to treat someone

unfairly or badly. (See also get a raw

deal.) The judge gave Mary a raw deal.

The students think that the teacher gave

them a raw deal.

give someone a reputation (for doing some-

thing) to cause someone to be known for

doing something. Her excellent parties

gave Jane a reputation for entertaining

well. You had better be careful or your

behavior will give you a reputation.

give someone a rough idea (about some-

thing) and give someone a rough idea (of

something) to give someone a general idea

or an estimate about something. I don’t

need to know exactly. Just give me a rough

idea about how big it should be. Let me

give you a rough idea about my plan.

give someone a rough idea (of something) Go

to give someone a rough idea (about some-

thing).

give someone a shellacking 1. to beat

someone. (See also get a shellacking.)

My dad gave me a shellacking when I broke

his fishing rod. If you do that again, I

will give you a shellacking. 2. to beat

someone (in a contest). The other team

gave us a shellacking. The Bears gave the

Packers a shellacking.

give someone a slap on the wrist and slap

someone on the wrist; slap someone’s

wrist to give someone a light punishment

(for doing something wrong). (See also

get a slap on the wrist.) The judge gave

her a slap on the wrist for speeding. The

judge should have done more than slap her

wrist. They should do more than just

slap his wrist.

give someone carte blanche and give

carte blanche to someone to give some-

one freedom or permission to act as one

wishes or thinks necessary. (Almost the

same as give someone a blank check.)

He’s been given carte blanche with the re-

organization of the work force.

manager has been given no instructions

about how to train the staff. The owner

just gave him carte blanche. Jean gave

carte blanche to the decorator and said she

wanted the whole house done.

give someone free rein Go to give free rein

to someone.

give someone goose bumps and give some-

one goose pimples to cause someone to

have prickly or bumpy skin owing to ex-

citement or fear. It was a scary movie

and it gave me goose bumps. I hate be-

ing in that old house. It gives me goose

pimples.

give someone goose pimples Go to give

someone goose bumps.

give someone gray hair(s) to cause some-

one’s hair to turn gray from stress or

frustration. (Usually an expression of fear

that one’s hair will turn gray.) My three

teenage boys are giving me gray hair.

Your behavior is giving me gray hairs.

give someone hell Go to give someone the

devil.

give someone or something a wide berth to

keep a reasonable distance from someone

or something; to steer clear (of someone

or something). (Originally referred to sail-

ing ships.) The dog we are approach-

ing is very mean. Better give it a wide

berth. Give Mary a wide berth. She’s in

a very bad mood.

give someone or something the (old) heave-

ho to throw someone or something out;

to get rid of someone or something; to

fire someone. (Informal. See also get the

(old) heave-ho.) We gave Jane the old

heave-ho today.  John was behaving

badly at our party, so my father gave him

the heave-ho. This chair is completely

worn out. Shall I give it the old heave-ho?

give someone some skin [for two people]

to touch two hands together in a special

greeting, like a handshake. (Slang. One

hand may be slapped down on top of the

other, or they may be slapped together

palm to palm with the arms held verti-

cally. Usually said as a command.) Hey,

Bob, give me some skin! Come over here,

you guys. I want you to meet my brother

and give him some skin!

give someone the air to ignore someone; to

dismiss someone. (See also get the air.)

Tom always gives me the air. Is there some-

thing wrong with me? Why is she giv-

ing him the air? What did he do?

give someone the ax and give someone the

sack to fire someone; to terminate some-

one’s employment. (See also get the

sack.) I gave Tom the sack, and he has

to find a new job. I had to give three

people the ax yesterday. We are having to

reduce our office staff.

give someone the benefit of the doubt to

make a judgment in someone’s favor

when the evidence is neither for nor

against the person. (See also get the ben-

efit of the doubt.) I’m glad the teacher

gave me the benefit of the doubt. Please,

judge. Give me the benefit of the doubt.

give someone the boot to dismiss someone;

to kick someone out (of a place). (Slang.

See also get the boot.) You had better

behave, or they’ll give you the boot. I

will give him the boot if he doesn’t

straighten up.

give someone the brush-off to send some-

one away; to reject someone. (Slang.)

Tom wouldn’t talk to her. He just gave her

the brush-off. Please don’t give me the

brush-off!

give someone the business to harass some-

one; to give someone a bad time. (Infor-

mal.) The people in that office can’t an-

swer your question. They just give you the

business. I’ll get rid of her. I’ll give her

the business.

give someone the cold shoulder to ignore

someone; to reject someone. (Informal.

See also get the cold shoulder.) She

gave me the cold shoulder when I asked her

to the party. Sally has been giving me

the cold shoulder.

give someone the creeps and give someone

the willies to make someone uneasy; to

frighten someone. (Informal. See also get

the creeps.) That old house gives me the

creeps. That strange old man gives him

the willies.

give someone the devil and give someone

hell to scold someone severely. (Infor-

mal. Use caution with hell.) I’m going

to give Bill hell when he gets home. He’s

late again. Bill, why do I always have

to give you the devil?

give someone the eye to look at someone

in a way that communicates romantic in-

terest. (Informal. See also catch someone’s

eye.) Ann gave John the eye. It really

surprised him. Tom kept giving Sally the

eye. She finally left.

give someone the gate to send someone

away; to reject someone. (Slang. See also

get the gate.) Not only was he not

friendly, he gave me the gate. He was

rude, so we gave him the gate.

give someone the glad hand to give some-

one an overly friendly welcome; to give

someone insincere attention. (Informal.)

Here comes Tom. Watch him give us the

glad hand and leave. These politicians

give you the glad hand and ignore you af-

ter they are elected.

give someone the go-by to pass by or ignore

someone. (Slang.) I could see that Tom

wanted a ride, but I gave him the go-by.

There was no reason to give the me

go-by!

give someone the green light Go to give

someone the go-ahead.

give someone the hard sell to put pressure

on someone to buy or accept (some-

thing). (Informal.) They gave me the

hard sell, but I still wouldn’t buy the car.

The clerk gave the customer the hard

sell.

give someone the high sign to give some-

one a prearranged signal. As the robber

walked past me, I gave the police officer a

high sign. Then the officer arrested the

robber. Things got started when I gave

the conductor the high sign.

give someone the low-down (on someone or

something) to tell someone the full story

about someone or something. (Slang. See

also get the low-down (on someone or some-

thing).) Please give Sally the low-down

on the new expressway. I do not know

what’s going on. Please give me the low-

down.

give someone the once-over to visually

examine someone quickly. (See also get

the once-over.) John gives me the once-

over every time he walks by me. Why

does he just give me the once-over? Why

doesn’t he say hello?

give someone the red-carpet treatment to

give someone very special treatment; to

give someone royal treatment. (See also

get the red-carpet treatment.) We al-

ways give the queen the red-carpet treat-

ment when she comes to visit.  They

never give me the red-carpet treatment.

give someone the runaround to give some-

one a series of excuses, delays, and refer-

If you ask to see the manager,

they’ll give you the runaround. Stop giv-

ing me the runaround!

give someone the shirt off one’s back to be

very generous or solicitous to someone.

Tom really likes Bill. He’d give Bill the

shirt off his back. John is so friendly that

he’d give anyone the shirt off his back.

give someone the slip to escape from or

elude someone. (Slang.) We followed

her for two blocks, and then she gave us the

slip. Max gave Lefty the slip.

give someone the third degree to question

someone in great detail for a long period.

(Slang. See also get the third degree.)

The police gave Sally the third degree.

Stop giving me the third degree. I told you

what I know.

give someone the willies Go to give some-

one the creeps.

give someone the works to give someone

the full amount or the full treatment.

(Slang. See also get the works.) The

judge gave her the works for driving too

fast.  I want everything on my ham-

burger. Give me the works.

give someone tit for tat to give someone

something equal to what was given you;

to exchange a series of things, one by one,

with someone. (Informal.) They gave

me the same kind of difficulty that I gave

them. They gave me tit for tat.  He

punched me, so I punched him. Every time

he hit me, I hit him. I just gave him tit for

tat.

give someone to understand something to ex-

plain something to someone; to imply

something to someone. (This may mis-

lead someone, accidentally or intention-

ally.) Mr. Smith gave Sally to under-

stand that she should be home by

midnight. The mayor gave the citizens

to understand that there would be no tax

increase. He didn’t promise, though.

give someone what for to scold someone.

(Folksy.) Billy’s mother gave him what

for because he didn’t get home on time.

I will really give you what for if you don’t

straighten up.

give something a shot and take a shot at

something to try something. I have never

dived before, but I will give it a shot.

Tom decided to take a shot at writing a

poem.

give something a whirl make a try at doing

something. If at first you don’t succeed,

give it another whirl. John gave bowl-

ing a whirl last night.

give something one’s best shot to give a task

one’s best effort. I gave the project my

best shot. Sure, try it. Give it your best

shot!

give the bride away [for a bride’s father]

to accompany the bride to the groom in

a wedding ceremony. Mr. Brown is ill.

Who’ll give the bride away? In the tra-

ditional wedding ceremony, the bride’s fa-

ther gives the bride away.

give the devil her due Go to give the devil

his due.

give the devil his due and give the devil

her due to give your foe proper credit

(for something). (This usually refers to

a person who has been evil—like the

devil.) She’s generally impossible, but I

have to give the devil her due. She bakes a

terrific cherry pie. John may cheat on

his taxes and yell at his wife, but he keeps

his car polished. I’ll give the devil his due.

give the game away to reveal a plan or

strategy. (Informal.) Now, all of you

have to keep quiet. Please don’t give the

game away. If you keep giving out hints,

you’ll give the game away.

give up the ghost to die; to release one’s

spirit. (Considered formal or humorous.)

The old man sighed, rolled over, and

gave up the ghost. I’m too young to give

up the ghost.

give vent to his frustration because he had

been warned to keep quiet.

give voice to something to express a feeling

or an opinion in words; to speak out

about something. The bird gave voice

to its joy in the golden sunshine. All the

people gave voice to their anger at

Congress.