Definition of "give way"

give way

verb
third-person singular simple present gives way, present participle giving way, simple past gave way, past participle given way
1. To yield to persistent persuasion.
2. To collapse or break under physical stresses.
  Quotations
  During the day conditions worsened quickly—for example, a 2-6-0 on the Uckfield line suddenly encountered flood water high enough to enter its ashpan and extinguish its fire—until lock gates up-river at Barcombe gave way and a tidal wave rolled down the valley meeting head-on a spring tide rolling up from the coast.
  1961 January, “Talking of Trains: Flooding at Lewes”, in Trains Illustrated, page 5
3. To be followed, succeeded, or replaced by.
4. To give precedence to other road users.
5. To allow another person to intervene to make a point or ask a question whilst one is delivering a speech.
6. To allow the expression of (a pent-up emotion, grief, etc.).
  Quotations
  Seeing my eye fixed upon him, he went outside to give way to his grief in the passage.
  1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887
7. (chiefly imperative, as command to the crew) To begin rowing.