Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US Und.) a payment made under duress.

1970

(con. 1930s) in ‘Studs’ Terkel Hard Times 183: Those were pretty big give-ups in those days.

2. (US) submission, surrender.

1972

D. Jenkins Semi-Tough 118: Booger’s prematurely bald and he’s starting to get a belly on him [...] but there just isn’t an ounce of give-up in him.

3. (US Und.) a robbery or hijacking in which the driver is in league with the hijackers.

1985		N. Pileggi Wiseguy (2001) 83: Lots of our jobs were called ‘give-ups’ – as opposed to stickups – which meant the driver was in on it with us.
1996		(con. mid-1960s) J. Lardner Crusader 261: Many, if not most, hijackings were prearranged affairs, or ‘give-ups’.

4. (Aus. prison) an informer.

1984		B. Ellem Doing Time app. C 190: give-up: an informer; a dog.
1990		Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Give-up. To inform on or betray. Thus ‘a give up’ is an informer.
2001		(con. 1945–6) P. Doyle Devil’s Jump (2008) 94: Somewhere down the track you’ll become a give-up. They nearly all do. You can forget that code of the underworld rubbish.