Akademik

throw in the towel
verb
give up in the face of defeat of lacking hope; admit defeat (Freq. 1)
-

In the second round, the challenger gave up

• Syn:
↑drop out, ↑give up, ↑fall by the wayside, ↑drop by the wayside, ↑throw in, ↑quit, ↑chuck up the sponge
• Ant: ↑enter (for: ↑drop out)
• Derivationally related forms: ↑quitter (for: ↑quit)
• Verb Frames:
-

Somebody ——s

-

Somebody ——s PP

-

Somebody ——s something

 (for: ↑quit)
-

Somebody ——s something

 (for: ↑give up)

* * *

phrasal
see throw in the sponge

* * *

throw in the towel or throw in one's hand see under ↑hand
• • •
Main Entry: ↑throw
————————
throw in the towel see under ↑throw1
• • •
Main Entry: ↑towel

* * *

throw in the towel informal phrase
to stop trying to do something because you lack determination or because you think you cannot win

Coach Michael Wenders accused his players of throwing in the towel.

Thesaurus: to stop doing somethingsynonym to kill a person or animalsynonym
Main entry: towel

* * *

I throw in the towel (or sponge)
(of boxers or their seconds) throw a towel (or sponge) into the ring as a token of defeat
■ abandon a struggle; admit defeat
II
see throw

* * *

throw in the towel
informal : to stop an activity or effort : to admit that you cannot do something and stop trying : ↑quit

I threw in the towel a long time ago.

He couldn't seem to win, but he wasn't ready to throw in the towel.

• • •
Main Entry: ↑towel

* * *

throw in the ˈtowel idiom
(informal) to admit that you have been defeated and stop trying

•

We're not going to throw in the towel just because we lost one game.

Main entry: ↑towelidiom

Useful english dictionary. 2012.