Meaning
“Give oneself up to” means to devote or surrender oneself completely to a feeling, activity, or situation, often without resistance. It implies yielding fully, whether in a positive or negative sense.
Grammar and Usage
- Structure: give oneself up to + noun/gerund
- Reflexive verb with preposition.
- Usually used in a figurative sense, often in literary or formal contexts.
Examples of usage:
- He gave himself up to despair.
- She gave herself up to the music.
Common Phrases
- give oneself up to despair
- give oneself up to pleasure
- give oneself up to grief
- give oneself up to study
- give oneself up to meditation
Collocations
- Verb + noun: give oneself up to despair, to joy, to pleasure, to sorrow
- Verb + activity: give oneself up to reading, to work, to prayer
Examples
- He gave himself up to despair after losing his job.
- She gave herself up to the beauty of the landscape.
- They gave themselves up to laughter at the comedian’s joke.
- The old man gave himself up to his memories.
- She gave herself up to the task with full concentration.
- He gave himself up to pleasure and neglected his duties.
- The writer gave himself up to solitude while working on his book.
- The monk gave himself up to prayer and meditation.
Synonyms or Related
- surrender to
- yield to
- devote oneself to
- abandon oneself to
Antonym
- resist
- hold back from
- restrain oneself from