give and take
cake
“Every good friendship needs some give and take.”
“We settle our household chores through a little give and take.”
“Marriage works best when there is a fair amount of give and take.”
“Successful teamwork requires a lot of give and take to keep everyone happy.”
“The two countries reached a trade agreement only after months of give and take regarding taxes and shipping rules.”
“You should expect some give and take when you negotiate your new salary and vacation days with the manager.”
“In any healthy long-term partnership, there must be a constant process of give and take to balance the needs of both individuals.”
first recorded 18th c.
The idiom is first recorded in 1769, appearing as a reference to the weight-based handicapping of horses in racing. A horse was required to carry more or less weight depending on its previous successes, a practice of balancing advantages that required one party to give ground while the other took it. The term migrated from the turf to the general vocabulary to describe the broader necessity of mutual compromise.
- 01
cake and gingerbread
An easy or pleasant task or experience; a piece of cake.
- 02
cake crumbs
Hardly anything.
- 03
cake walk
Something extremely easy.
- 04
cakes and ale
The simple material pleasures of life.
- 05
eat one's cake and have it too
Alternative form of have one's cake and eat it too.
- 06
have one's cake and eat it too
To benefit by having two things which are mutually incompatible (such as eating a piece of cake and yet still possessing that piece for future use).
- 07
icing on the cake
A thing which intensifies the appreciation of something already good, or (ironic) the regretting of something already bad.
- 08
let them eat cake
Used to express a profound disconnect between the elite and the unprivileged or underprivileged, suggesting a callous indifference or detachment to their suffering.
Last updated June 7, 2026