 10 English Phrases with the word GIVE from EspressoEnglish.net 1. What Gives I charged my cell phone an hour ago and the battery's already gone dead. What Gives? This expression means what's the problem or what went wrong. It is often used when you are somewhat surprised that the problem occurred or annoyed at a problem. 2. Give Someone Free Rain The director of the school gives the teachers free rain in their classes. To give someone free rain means to give them complete control, complete freedom to do whatever they want. Rains are the straps used to control a horse, so if you give the horse free rain, you let it do whatever it wants and go wherever it wants. 3. Give Someone a Hard Time I'm totally exhausted. My kids were giving me a hard time all weekend. To give someone a hard time means to make the person's life difficult. In this sentence, the kids were probably being crazy, behaving badly, or disobeying. Give someone a hard time can also be used for teasing or making fun of someone. For example, if a kid has a funny sounding name, other kids will give him a hard time. 4. Give A Heads Up I just wanted to give you a heads up that the store will be closed tomorrow. It's a holiday. To give someone a heads up is to tell the person some information or alert them about something that will happen in the future. 5. Give A Wide Birth I try to give him a wide birth when he's in a bad mood. To give someone a wide birth means to avoid, stay away from, or keep your distance. 6. Give Someone A Ring Why don't you give me a ring this weekend and we'll meet up. This expression means to call the person on the telephone. You can also say, give me a call. 7. Give Notice At Your Job Lisa gave notice last week. We need to find someone to fill her position. To give notice means to officially tell your employer that you will be leaving your job. 8. Give A Tongue Lashing Everyone on the team played terribly. The coach gave us a tongue lashing after the game. To give someone a tongue lashing means to speak very angrily because of something the person did wrong. The word lash comes from the movement of a whip, so it is like you are using your tongue, your words, to punish the other person. 9. Give It A Whirl This video game is awesome. Why don't you give it a whirl? This expression means try it. Other expressions meaning try include give it a go, give it a shot, and give it a try. 10. Give Me Five You did a great job. Give me five. This means to slap your hand against the other person's hand. People do this to say congratulations or in moments of joy and happiness. To learn everyday English, take the Everyday English Speaking Course available at espressoenglish.net. This course teaches you practical spoken English for daily life. All of the lessons are based on dialogues, so you'll learn lots of useful phrases and how to use them in everyday life. Thanks for watching!