give as good as one gets Definition

give
verb gave, given, giving

1. To transfer ownership of something; to transfer possession of something temporarily.

Example: gave him my watch
Example: Give me your bags
2. To provide or administer.

Example: give advice
Example: give medicine
Thesaurus: bestow, confer, impart, dispense.
3. To produce.

Example: Cows give milk
4. To perform (an action, service, etc).

Example: give a smile
Example: She gave a lecture on beetles
5. To pay.

Example: gave £20 for it
Thesaurus: grant, bequeath, donate, award, contribute.
intr
6. To make a donation.

Example: Please give generously
7. To sacrifice it.

Example: give one's life
Example: gave up his day off to finish the job on time
Form: give something up (also)
8. To be the cause or source of something.

Example: gives me pain
intr
9. To yield or break.

Example: give under pressure
10. To organize something at one's own expense.

Example: give a party
11. To have something as a result.

Example: four into twenty gives five
12. To reward or punish with something.

Example: was given 20 years
13. colloq
To agree to or admit something; to concede.
Example: I'll give you that
Thesaurus: concede, grant, allow.
14. To offer a toast to someone or something.
15. sport.
To declare someone to be a specified thing.
Example: He was given offside

noun

1. Capacity to yield; flexibility.

Example: a board with plenty of give

Idiom: give and take

To make mutual concessions.

Idiom: give as good as one gets

colloq
To respond to an attack with equal energy, force and effect.

Idiom: give me

colloq
I prefer.
Example: Give me jazz any day

Idiom: give or take something

colloq
Allowing for a (specified) margin of error.
Example: We have all the money, give or take a pound

Idiom: give someone to believe that ...

To make someone think that or to give the impression that ...

Idiom: give someone up for dead (give someone up for lost)

To assume that they are dead or lost, etc, after abandoning hope.

Idiom: give up the ghost

colloq
To die.

Idiom: give way

To allow priority.

To collapse under pressure.
Thesaurus: collapse, fall, crumble, crumple, break, cave in, sag, crack; Antonym: withstand.

Idiom: give way to something

To allow oneself to be affected by it.
Example: give way to tears

Idiom: what gives?

What is happening, the matter, etc? For many other idioms containing give, see under the next significant word in the idiom.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon gefan.

Phrasal Verb: give someone away

To betray them.To present (the bride) to the bridegroom at a wedding ceremony.

Phrasal Verb: give something away

To hand it over as a gift.To sell it at an incredibly low price.To allow (a piece of information) to become known, usually by accident.

Phrasal Verb: give in to someone or something

To yield to them; to admit defeat.

Phrasal Verb: give something off

To produce or emit (eg a smell).

Phrasal Verb: give on to or into something

Said of a passage, etc: to lead or be an opening to it.
Example: a terrace giving on to the lawn

Phrasal Verb: give out

To break down or come to an end.
Example: Their resistance gave out

Phrasal Verb: give something out

To announce or distribute it.To emit (a sound, smell, etc).

Phrasal Verb: give over! or give over doing something

Usually as a command: to stop (doing it).
Example: Give over shouting!
Example: Give over! I've had enough of your moaning

Phrasal Verb: give something over

To transfer it.To set it aside or devote it to some purpose.
Example: The morning was given over to discussing the budgets

Phrasal Verb: give up

To admit defeat.

Phrasal Verb: give oneself up

To surrender.

Phrasal Verb: give oneself up to something

To devote oneself to (a cause, etc).

Phrasal Verb: give someone or something up

To surrender or hand over (a wanted person, a weapon, etc).

Phrasal Verb: give something up

To renounce or quit (a habit, etc).
Example: give up smoking
To resign from or leave (a job, etc).

Phrasal Verb: give up doing something

To stop making the effort to achieve it.
Example: gave up trying to talk sense to them