throw up one's hands
English
Verb
throw up one's hands
- (intransitive) To cease an attempt because it is perceived as doomed.
- 1884, Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1987 Scholastic Paperbacks ed., →ISBN, page 283,
- I see it warn't a bit of use to try to go ahead—I'd got to throw up my hands.
- 2001, James Patterson, Cradle and All, Warner Books, →ISBN, page 58,
- I wanted to throw up my hands and say, "Thanks. See ya." But I couldn't walk away.
- 2007 August 22, Oliver Rist, "Does Vista suck?", InfoWorld ,
- So to us, the question isn't just "Does Vista suck?" but "Does Vista suck enough that businesses of any size should simply throw up their hands and migrate over to something else?"
- 1884, Mark Twain, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, 1987 Scholastic Paperbacks ed., →ISBN, page 283,
Synonyms
- give up
- throw in the towel
Translations
(idiomatic) to quit; to give up — see throw in the towel