misgive, v.
(mɪsˈgɪv)
[mis-1 1, 7.]
1. trans. Of one's ‘heart’, mind, etc.: To suggest (to one) doubt or apprehension; to cause to be apprehensive (that); to incline to suspicion or foreboding. (See give v. 22; the personal obj. was orig. a dative.)
| 1513 More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 777 Were it, that before such great thinges mennes harts..misgeueth them. c 1592 Marlowe Jew of Malta ii. ii, My heart misgives me that..He's with your mother. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iv. vi. 94 So doth my heart mis-giue me, in these Conflicts, What may befall him. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 846 Yet oft his heart, divine of something ill, Misgave him. 1712–13 Swift Jrnl. to Stella 14 Feb., I was afraid to knock at the door; my mind misgave me. 1727 Gay Begg. Op. i. vi, I am as fond of this child as though my mind misgave me he were my own. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 559 The minds of the questioners misgave them that the guide was not the rude clown that he seemed. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xii, Torfrida's heart misgave her. |
b. absol. or intr. Said orig. of the mind, etc., and hence (now rarely) of the person (also refl.) = To have misgivings.
| 1604 Shakes. Oth. iii. iv. 89 Fetch me the Handkerchiefe, My minde mis-giues. 1612 Bp. Hall Contempl., O.T. iv. Wks. (1625) 872 Those seruices, which we are forward to, aloofe off, wee shrinke at, neere hand, and fearfully missegiue. a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 300 He began somewhat to misgive himselfe, and to feare detection. 1726 Pope Odyss. xxii. 175 Learn, if by female fraud this deed were done, Or (as my thought misgives) by Dolius' son. 1838 Lytton Leila i. vi, The Zeguis might misgive, did they see me leave the palace with you. 1872 C. J. Vaughan Earnest Words (1878) 154 When we..misgive ourselves as to the possibility of spiritual endurance. 1887 Hall Caine Deemster xxxix, When this man came my mind misgave. |
† c. trans. To suggest fear of. Obs.
| 1587 Golding De Mornay xvii. 308 Repentance presupposeth a fault, and conscience misgiueth the insewing of punishment for the same [orig. s'en propose la pène]. |
2. intr. To fail; to go wrong, miscarry. Of a gun: To fail to go off; to miss fire. Chiefly Sc.
| 1579 Reg. Privy Council Scot. Ser. i. III. 227 The said George Hume presentand ane pistolet to him, quhilk had slane him gif scho had not misgevin. 1629 Ibid. Ser. ii. III. 13 Thair purpose misgave thame. 1654 Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Wars Flanders 250 If the design of assaulting England misgive. 1703 Brand New Descr. Orkney, Zetland, etc. 112 Upon which the 1st. and 2d. Brewings misgave likewise, but the 3d. was good. 1752 in Scots Mag. (1753) Aug. 401/1 It [sc. a gun] misgave with him thrice at a black cock. 1799 J. Robertson Agric. Perth 248 Oats for the first year frequently misgive. 1833 Chalmers Const. of Man vi. (1834) I. 228 The abortive enterprises of..Utopianism..have all of them misgiven. 1880 Mrs. C. H. Macgill Mem. H. Macgill 61 Fall back in thought on the question who He is, and your hope will not misgive. |
3. trans. To bestow amiss; to cite wrongly.
| 1611 Cotgr., Mesdonner, to misgiue, or bestow amisse. 1639–40 Laud Hist. Chanc. Oxf. in Rem. (1700) II. 192, I knew nothing of any of their Liberty misgiven or misused, till about a Fortnight since. a 1713 T. Ellwood Autobiog. (1714) 318 Quotations..misgiven, misapplied, or perverted. |