Definition of Give way

1. Verb. Move in order to make room for someone for something. "These cars won't give way "; "`Move over,' he told the crowd"

Exact synonyms: Ease Up, Give, Move Over, Yield
Related verbs: Abandon, Give Up
Generic synonyms: Move

2. Verb. Break down, literally or metaphorically. "The business is going to give way "; "The roof finally gave under the weight of the ice"
Exact synonyms: Break, Cave In, Collapse, Fall In, Founder, Give
Generic synonyms: Change
Specialized synonyms: Go Off, Implode, Buckle, Crumple, Flop, Break, Sink, Slide Down, Slump
Related verbs: Abandon, Give Up, Burst, Collapse
Derivative terms: Cave In, Collapse, Collapse

3. Verb. End resistance, as under pressure or force. "The door yielded to repeated blows with a battering ram"
Exact synonyms: Yield
Generic synonyms: Change

4. Verb. Stop operating or functioning. "These cars won't give way "; "Her eyesight went after the accident"

Definition of Give way

1. Verb. To yield to persistent persuasion. ¹

2. Verb. To collapse or break under physical stresses. ¹

3. Verb. To be followed, succeeded, or replaced by. ¹

4. Verb. To give precedence to other road users. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Give Way

give the finger
give the gate
give the glad eye
give the lie to
give the once over
give the sack
give the store away
give the time of day
give thought
give tongue to
give two hoots
give up
give up the ghost
give vent
give voice
give way
give weight
give what for
giveable
giveaway
giveaways
giveback
givebacks
gived
given
given(a)
given(p)
given-name
given a bad name
given away

Literary usage of Give way

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, Henry Dale, Thomas Arnold (1873)
"Fur it is these who would most give way to recklessness, and bring both themselves and us into danger that was evident beforehand. ..."

2. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Standard Work of Reference in Art, Literature (1907)
"Should the crater walls be too weak to resist the pressure of the molten mass, they will give way, and the lava will rush out from the breach. ..."

3. History of England from the Accession of James I. to the Outbreak of the by Samuel Rawson Gardiner (1895)
"The question was then give way. put to the judges, one by one, ' whether if, at any time, in a case depending before the judges, His Majesty conceived it to ..."

4. The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracián y Morales, Joseph Jacobs (1892)
"give way now is to conquer by and by. A fountain gets muddy with but little stirring up, and does not get clear by our meddling with it but by our leaving ..."

5. The Living Age by Making of America Project, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell (1868)
"It is quite time," continued Lady Laura, " that old Mr. Standish should give way. .... give way ..."

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