give way
"give-way" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“give way” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To yield to persistent persuasion.
Corpus desk
Index EN-give-way · give way · English
give way · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "G" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | give way |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “give way” in English
Rare enough to double-check
give way is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 7 senses are on record.
give way has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is give way, spelled G-I-V-E- -W-A-Y.
Definition
- 1To yield to persistent persuasion.
- 2To collapse or break under physical stresses.
- 3To be followed, succeeded, or replaced by.
- 4To give precedence to other road users.
- 5To allow another person to intervene to make a point or ask a question whilst one is delivering a speech.
- 6To allow the expression of (a pent-up emotion, grief, etc.).
- 7To begin rowing.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how give way appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The mother gave way to her crying child.
Whether in consequence of this or not, the Liverpool company eventually gave way, and proceeded to build its portion of the work with some ill grace.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.