How to Use something has (got) to give in a Sentence

something has (got) to give

idiom
Definition of something has (got) to givenext
  • Both also score more than 41 points a game, so something has to give.
    — USA TODAY, 6 Oct. 2022
  • My youngest loves Disney movies and my eldest is obsessed with Stranger Things, but something has got to give.
    — Simon Hill, WIRED, 19 Aug. 2022
  • In the battle of the boardroom versus the bedroom, something has to give come September.
    — Matthew Boyle, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Aug. 2022
  • When one of the nation’s top offenses (Baylor) meets the Big 12′s best defense (Iowa State), something has to give.
    — Michael Haag, Dallas News, 9 Mar. 2023
  • The three victories are tied for second in the league behind the San Diego Wave, but the four goals are tied for second-worst, meaning something has to give.
    — Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2022
  • Soaring prices for all sorts of items from gas at the pump to airline tickets to food chip away at your spending power — and something has to give somewhere.
    — Susan Tompor, Detroit Free Press, 8 July 2022
  • No, that fate is reserved for another of Liza’s acquaintances (something has to give her a conscience).
    — Peter Debruge, Variety, 11 Sep. 2023
  • A couple dollars more a month normally isn’t enough to move the needle, but when Americans are facing the fastest inflation in 40 years, something has got to give.
    — Molly Smith, Bloomberg.com, 20 Apr. 2022
  • But as the company expands into new product categories, something has to give.
    — Jacob Siegal, BGR, 10 May 2022
  • When that goes on indefinitely, something has to give: The higher-wage work gets neglected or the higher-wage earners get burned out trying to cover two jobs.
    — Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2022
  • But Williams is the wife in this scenario, and when faced with having to balance motherhood and a profession as demanding as a professional athlete, something has to give.
    — Wisdom Iheanyichukwu, refinery29.com, 12 Aug. 2022
  • In the Maryland cafe, named for a cigarette brand that is no more, the prevailing view is that something has to give in a France that has lost its way under a president too privileged and remote to know anything of the burden of struggle.
    — New York Times, 23 Apr. 2022
  • Clearly, something has to give if the power maximum isn't changing, and that comes in the form of a massive new chassis, now requiring three full PCI-e slots of space in your preferred gaming case, along with additional length.
    — Sam MacHkovech, Ars Technica, 5 Oct. 2022
  • Increasing autocracy is colliding with a dynamic economy, and something has to give.
    — Stephen Roach, Foreign Affairs, 28 Nov. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'something has (got) to give.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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