Fr., aller en donner. For synonyms, see Wig and Tan respectively.
1612. Chapman, Widow's Tears, Act i., p. 312 (Plays, 1874). This braving wooer hath the success expected; the favour I obtained made me witness to the sport, and let his confidence be sure, I'll give it him home.
1835. Dickens, Sketches by Boz, p. 134. 'Take that,' exclaimed Mr. Samuel Wilkins. . . . 'Give it him,' said the waistcoat. . . . Miss J'mima Ivins's beau and the friend's young man lay gasping on the gravel, and the waistcoat and whiskers were seen no more.
1889. J. M. Barrie in Time, Aug. p. 148. When he said he would tell everybody in the street about there being a baby, I gave him one in the eye. Ibid. If it's true what Symons Tertius says, that Cocky has gone and stolen my reminiscences about Albert's curls, putting it into his reminiscences like as if it was his own, I'll give him it hot.
To give in (or out), verb. phr. (colloquial).—To admit defeat; to yield; to be exhausted; to throw up the sponge. See Floored and Cave in.
1748. Smollett Rod. Random, ch. xviii. Strap, after having received three falls on the hard stones, gave out, and allowed the blacksmith to be the better man.
1760-1. Smollett, L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. viii. By this time the doctor had given out, and allowed the brewer to be the better man.
1819. Moore, Tom Crib, p. 25. Poor Georgy gave in.
1837. Lytton, Ernest Maltravers, bk. IV., ch. ix. Your time is up . . . you have had your swing, and a long one it seems to have been—you must now give in.
1847. Robb, Squatter Life, p. 99. Jest about then both on our pusses gin out.
1850. Buffum, Six Months in the Gold Mines, p. 73. After working three days with the machine, the earth we had been washing began to give out.
1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xxiv., p. 217. I am surprised to hear a man of your energy talk of giving in.
To give away, verb. phr. (American).—To betray or expose inadvertently; to blow upon (q.v.): to peach (q.v. for synonyms). Also to give dead away. Largely used in combination: e.g., give-away = an exposure; give-away cue = an underhand revelation of secrets.
1883. F. M. Crawford, Doctor Claudius, ch. vi., p. 100. It always amused him to see sanguine people angry. They looked so uncomfortable, and gave themselves away so recklessly.
1886. A. Lang, Longman's Mag., VII., 321. I know not whether the American phrase, to give a person away, to give yourself away, meaning to reveal your own or another's secret, is of provincial English origin. Did it cross over with the Pilgrim Fathers in the May Flower, or is it a recent bit of slang? 'Who giveth this woman away?' asked the rural American parson in the wedding service. 'I could, came the voice of a young man from the gallery, 'but I'd never be so mean.'
1888. Detroit Free Press, Aug. Careful what we say, for it will give us dead away.
1889. Answers, 20 Apr., p. 326. My closely cropped hair, however, gave me away.
1892. R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, p. 195. For the sake of the joke I'll give myself away.
To give one best, verb. phr. (schoolboys').—1. To acknowledge one's inferiority, a defeat. Also (thieves') to leave, to cut (q.v.).
1887. Horsley, Jottings from Jail. But after a time I gave him best (left him), because he used to want to bite my ear (borrow) too often.
To give the collar, verb. phr. (American).—To seize; to arrest; to collar (q.v.). For synonyms, see Nab.
To give the bullet (sack, bag, kick-out, pike, road, etc.), verb. phr. (common).—To discharge from an employ.
