GIVE AWAY

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does give away mean? 

• GIVE AWAY (verb)
  The verb GIVE AWAY has 4 senses:

1. make a gift of

2. make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret

3. formally hand over to the bridegroom in marriage; of a bride by her father

4. give away information about somebody

  Familiarity information: GIVE AWAY used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GIVE AWAY (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a gift of

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

She gave away her antique furniture

Hypernyms (to "give away" is one way to...):

gift; give; present (give as a present; make a gift of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

break; bring out; disclose; discover; divulge; expose; give away; let on; let out; reveal; uncover; unwrap

Context example:

The newspaper uncovered the President's illegal dealings

Hypernyms (to "give away" is one way to...):

tell (let something be known)

Cause:

break; get around; get out (be released or become known; of news)

Verb group:

break; get around; get out (be released or become known; of news)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "give away"):

blackwash (bring (information) out of concealment)

muckrake (explore and expose misconduct and scandals concerning public figures)

blow (cause to be revealed and jeopardized)

out (reveal (something) about somebody's identity or lifestyle)

come out; come out of the closet; out (to state openly and publicly one's homosexuality)

spring (produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly)

betray; bewray (reveal unintentionally)

confide (reveal in private; tell confidentially)

leak (tell anonymously)

babble; babble out; blab; blab out; let the cat out of the bag; peach; sing; spill the beans; talk; tattle (divulge confidential information or secrets)

reveal (disclose directly or through prophets)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They give away that there was a traffic accident

Derivation:

giveaway (an unintentional disclosure)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Formally hand over to the bridegroom in marriage; of a bride by her father

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "give away" is one way to...):

deliver; fork out; fork over; fork up; hand over; render; turn in (to surrender someone or something to another)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 4

Meaning:

Give away information about somebody

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

betray; denounce; give away; grass; rat; shit; shop; snitch; stag; tell on

Context example:

He told on his classmate who had cheated on the exam

Hypernyms (to "give away" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "give away"):

sell someone out (give information that compromises others)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

Had he been in his right senses, he could not have thought of such a thing as begging you to give away half your fortune from your own child.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

He would have taken his gaiters off his legs, to give away.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Poverty certainly has not contracted her mind: I really believe, if she had only a shilling in the world, she would be very likely to give away sixpence of it; and nobody is afraid of her: that is a great charm.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

A thousand a-year is a great deal for a mother to give away, to make over for ever; but Mrs. Ferrars has a noble spirit.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)