give
Preserved but no longer current.
To strike, to scold; "I’ll GIVE it to you," i.e., I will thrash you. To lead to, in the sense of directions. Thus, in one of the Christmas numbers of All the Year Round we are told that "a side portal and a passage, dark at noon, GAVE upon Paradise Alley." This usage of the word, from the French idiomatic use of donner, is becoming by no means uncommon.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “give” mean?
To strike, to scold; "I’ll GIVE it to you," i.e., I will thrash you. To lead to, in the sense of directions. Thus, in one of the Christmas numbers of All the Year Round we are told that "a side portal and a passage, dark at noon, GAVE upon Paradise Alley." This usage of the word, from the French idiomatic use of donner, is becoming by no means uncommon.
Is “give” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.