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Glite Dictionary
to part with

to part with

42 4.1
To give something you value to someone else, often reluctantly
  • phrasal verb
  • /pɑrt wɪð/
translation icon : desprenderse de
  • She found it hard to part with the valuable necklace her grandmother gave her.

How do you come to grips with parting with your late husband's things?

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Examples

  • I hated to part with it, but the situation called for the best I could give.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • I'm scared he could get me to part with my money way too easily.

    Blog text (2)

  • Because only then are they willing to part with their money, right?

  • OK, Can I afford to part with this money?

    The Minimalists

  • His incredible belief in himself made other people believe in him and part with their money.

  • I'll never part with it.

    Columbus Circle (2012)

  • They will tell you anything to get you to part with your money.

  • The artist doesn't wanna part with his favorite piece.

    Big Eyes (2014)

  • I didn't want to part with them even when I went through an extremely difficult financial crisis.

    Academic text (1997)

  • The Triumph was so small, not even comfortable, really, but she couldn't part with the crazy little thing.

    Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

to give up
vsto part with
363 2.3

To hand a job or control you have to someone else

emphasizes surrender of valuable or nonessential items rather than ceasing activity
to relinquish
vsto part with
  • Formal
69 7.2

To give up control, a right, or something you own

focuses on surrendering valuable or nonessential things rather than legal rights

Antonyms

to keep
∞ 1.0

To continue doing something or stay in the same state

How Willing

to donate
457 2.7
to relinquish
  • Formal
69 7.2
to part with
42 4.1
to give up
363 2.3
surrender
77 4.2

Surface Forms

part with infinitive
parted with past
parted with past participle
parting with present participle
parts with third person singular

Morphology

part + with

The core idea of separating or moving away in 'part' maps onto the sense of relinquishing possession, so a learner who knows 'part' and the preposition 'with' can often infer that 'part with' means to separate oneself from something. However, the specific idiomatic use meaning 'to give up or relinquish (especially something valuable)' is a conventionalized extension and not entirely predictable from the parts alone, making it only partially transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Part with comes from the simple image of letting go: the verb part means to move away, and the word with points to the thing you give away. To 'part with' something is to hand it over, so it means 'to give up' or 'let go of' a thing.