- forgive */*/
- UK [fə(r)ˈɡɪv] / US [fərˈɡɪv]
verb [transitive]
Word forms "forgive":
present tense I/you/we/they forgive he/she/it forgives present participle forgiving past tense forgave UK [fə(r)ˈɡeɪv] / US [fərˈɡeɪv] past participle forgiven UK [fə(r)ˈɡɪv(ə)n] / US [fərˈɡɪv(ə)n]1) to decide that you will not be angry with someone who has offended, upset, or harmed youforgive someone for doing something:His children have never fully forgiven him.
forgive yourself:She eventually forgave him for forgetting her birthday.
forgive someone something:John has never forgiven himself for the accident.
They're nice boys, so we tend to forgive them their occasional bad behaviour.
2) economics if a country or bank forgives a debt, they decide that the debt does not have to be paid back•someone could be forgiven for thinking/wondering/believing etc
— used for saying that it is not surprising that someone thinks or believes something, even though they are wrong to do soVoters could be forgiven for thinking that the major parties have no policies at all for the environment.
forgive me (for doing something)/forgive my doing something
— spoken used when you want to say or do something that may offend the person you are talking toForgive me, but I must leave now.
Forgive me for asking, but how much did you pay for that vase?
English dictionary. 2014.