throw up the sponge
English
Etymology
From a custom of the boxing ring, the person employed to sponge a pugilist between rounds throwing his sponge in the air in token of defeat.
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
throw up the sponge (third-person singular simple present throws up the sponge, present participle throwing up the sponge, simple past threw up the sponge, past participle thrown up the sponge)
- (archaic, slang, idiomatic) To give up a contest; to acknowledge defeat; throw in the towel.
- 1870, James Russell Lowell, Among My Books, Lessing
- He was too brave a man to throw up the sponge to fate.
- 1870, James Russell Lowell, Among My Books, Lessing