deliver up
C1 formal separable transitive
In simple words
To give someone or something to a person in charge, often because you have to.
Literal meaning: To bring or carry something upward and present it.
Meanings
1 C1 formal
To hand over a person or thing, especially to an authority, often under compulsion.
"The rebels were ordered to deliver up their weapons before sunrise."
"Deliver up the body of your king to me."
— William Shakespeare, Richard II, Act III, Scene III (c. 1595)
Grammar: separable
Usage notes
Formal, literary, or biblical in tone. Found in legal and historical texts. The particle 'up' suggests submission to a higher power. In modern contexts, 'hand over' or 'surrender' is used instead.
Commonly used with
fugitive documents weapons suspect goods hostages
Forms
Base
deliver up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
delivers up
he/she/it
Past simple
delivered up
yesterday
Past participle
delivered up
have + pp
-ing form
delivering up
continuous
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Synonyms
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