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Promise vs Give - What's the difference?

promise | give |

In lang=en terms the difference between promise and give

is that promise is to give grounds for expectation, especially of something good while give is to lead (onto or into).

As nouns the difference between promise and give

is that promise is an oath or affirmation; a vow while give is (uncountable) the amount of bending that something undergoes when a force is applied to it.

As verbs the difference between promise and give

is that promise is to commit to something or action; to make an oath; make a vow while give is (may take two objects) to move, shift, provide something abstract or concrete to someone or something or somewhere.

promise

English

Alternative forms

* promyse

Noun

(en noun)
  • An oath or affirmation; a vow.
  • A transaction between two persons whereby the first person undertakes in the future to render some service or gift to the second person or devotes something valuable now and here to his use.
  • * 1668 July 3rd, , “Thomas Rue contra'' Andrew Hou?toun” in ''The Deci?ions of the Lords of Council & Se??ion I (Edinburgh, 1683), pages 547–548
  • He pur?ued Andrew Hou?toun upon his promi?e , to give him the like Sallary for the next year, and in ab?ence obtained him to be holden as confe?t and Decerned.
  • Reason to expect improvement or success; potential.
  • * Washington Irving
  • My native country was full of youthful promise .
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), chapter=1
  • , title=(The China Governess) citation , passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.}}
  • (computing, programming) A placeholder object that can be manipulated in code before it has been assigned a value.
  • (obsolete) Bestowal or fulfillment of what is promised.
  • * Bible, Acts i. 4
  • He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father.

    Verb

    (promis)
  • To commit to something or action; to make an oath; make a vow.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=70, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Engineers of a different kind , passage=Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.
  • To give grounds for expectation, especially of something good.
  • The clouds promise rain.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1897, author=
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 citation , passage=I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me. I look upon notoriety with the same indifference as on the buttons on a man's shirt-front, or the crest on his note-paper.}}

    Usage notes

    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Synonyms

    *

    See also

    * (election promise)

    Statistics

    *

    give

    English

    Verb

  • (may take two objects) To move, shift, provide something abstract or concrete to someone or something or somewhere.
  • # To transfer one's possession or holding of (something) to (someone).
  • # To make a present or gift of.
  • # To pledge.
  • # To provide (something) to (someone), to allow or afford.
  • # To cause (a sensation or feeling) to exist in.
  • # To carry out (a physical interaction) with (something).
  • #*
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, with something of the stately pose which Richter has given his Queen Louise on the stairway,
  • # To pass (something) into (someone's) hand or the like.
  • # To cause (a disease or condition) in, or to transmit (a disease or condition) to.
  • #* 1699 , , Heads designed for an essay on conversations
  • Study gives' strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to '''give''' stiffness, the other suppleness: one ' gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
  • (may take two objects) To estimate or predict (a duration or probability) for (something).
  • To yield slightly when a force is applied.
  • *
  • To collapse under pressure or force.
  • To provide, as, a service or a broadcast.
  • * 2003 , Iain Aitken, Value-Driven IT Management: Commercializing the IT Function , page 153
  • who did not have a culture in which 'giving good presentation' and successfully playing the internal political game was the way up.
  • * 2006 , Christopher Matthew Spencer The Ebay Entrepreneur , page 248
  • A friendly voice on the phone welcoming prospective new clients is a must. Don't underestimate the importance of giving good "phone".
  • To lead (onto or into).
  • To exhibit as a product or result; to produce; to yield.
  • The number of men, divided by the number of ships, gives four hundred to each ship.
  • To cause; to make; used with the infinitive.
  • * Shakespeare
  • But there the duke was given to understand / That in a gondola were seen together / Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica.
  • To allow or admit by way of supposition.
  • * Milton
  • I give not heaven for lost.
  • To attribute; to assign; to adjudge.
  • * Sheridan
  • I don't wonder at people's giving him to me as a lover.
  • To communicate or announce (advice, tidings, etc.); to pronounce or utter (an opinion, a judgment, a shout, etc.).
  • (dated) To grant power or permission to; to allow.
  • * Rowe
  • It is given me once again to behold my friend.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • Then give thy friend to shed the sacred wine.
  • (reflexive) To devote or apply (oneself).
  • The soldiers give themselves to plunder.
    That boy is given to fits of bad temper.
  • To become soft or moist.
  • (Francis Bacon)
  • To shed tears; to weep.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Whose eyes do never give / But through lust and laughter.
  • To have a misgiving.
  • * J. Webster
  • My mind gives ye're reserved / To rob poor market women.
  • To be going on, to be occurring
  • Synonyms

    * (transfer possession of) donate, pass, transfer * (bend slightly when a force is applied) bend, cede, flex, move, yield * (estimate or predict) estimate, guess, predict * (provide)

    Antonyms

    * (transfer possession of) get, obtain, receive, take * (bend slightly when a force is applied) not bend/cede/flex/give/move/yield, resist

    Derived terms

    See also'' given''', '''giver''' ''and'' ' giving * forgive * * give and take * give away * give away the store * give back * give birth * give forth * give head * give in * give it one's all * give it one's best shot * give it up for * given * give off * give one's all * give one's daughter away * give on to * give or take * give out * give over * give pause * give someone a break * give someone a chance * give someone a kiss * give someone grief * give someone the business * give someone the time of day * give something a miss * give something a shot * give something a try * give thanks * give to understand * give up * give way * it is better to give than to receive * something's got to give * what gives? * you only get what you give

    Noun

    (-)
  • (uncountable) The amount of bending that something undergoes when a force is applied to it.
  • This chair doesn't have much give .