From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgive waygive waya) to be replaced by something elsegive way to Stone has given way to glass and concrete. My anger gave way to depression. b) to agree to do what someone else wants, instead of what you want, especially after a lot of discussion or argument Despite growing pressure, the Minister of State refused to give way.give way to Maria seemed to despise him for giving way to her. c) to break because of too much weight or pressure The floor’s rotten and likely to give way. d) British English to stop or slow down when you are driving, in order to allow other vehicles to go first SYN yield American English In Britain, give way to cars coming from the right. → way
Examples from the Corpus
way to• Anger gave way to an unhappy truth.• Those who had perfected the machines gave way to those skilled at rounding up the public.• Stone gave way to bronze, and then to iron.• Crying will probably give way to laughter.• With this awareness, children begin to accommodate to others, and egocentric thought begins to give way to social pressure.• The ability to produce in greater quantities made this system wasteful and it has given way to a more scientific process.• Integration is giving way to colonisation.• With notable exceptions, adobe slowly is giving way to cinder block and other inexpensive modern materials. 