verb
Etymology: Middle English given away, from given to give + away
transitive verb
1. : to make a present of : donate
a beautiful streamlined television set … is being practically given away — Stuart Chase
2. obsolete : to make a sacrifice of
be merry, Cassio, for thy solicitor shall rather die than give thy cause away — Shakespeare
3. : to perform the ceremony of delivering (a bride) to the bridegroom at a wedding
4.
a. : to expose to detection or ridicule : betray
it would be useless to call him a cad for giving a woman away — O.S.J.Gogarty
no prisoner would give a fellow prisoner away — Rex Ingamells
b. : to allow (as a secret) to be known : disclose , reveal
the incident … also gives away an essential point — Times Literary Supplement
a chef does not give away all his culinary secrets — Darius Milhaud
5. : to give an advantage by competing under a handicap of
the thirty-year-old welterweight gave away six and a quarter pounds to his … middleweight arch foe — Jesse Abramson
intransitive verb
: to yield to or as if to physical force or strain
accidents are caused by the safety belt not being fastened or by the seat itself giving away — H.G.Armstrong