verb phrase🎓 English idiom
throw in the towel
to give up
What it means
To give up, admit defeat, or stop trying because you no longer believe you can succeed. It's used when someone abandons a difficult effort or contest.
Words like “throw in the towel” are exactly the kind of vocabulary our English vocabulary size test measures — find out how many English words you know.
Examples
- After three failed attempts, he finally threw in the towel.
- Don't throw in the towel now, you're so close to finishing.
- The struggling restaurant threw in the towel after two hard years.
- She refused to throw in the towel despite all the setbacks.
Where it comes from
From boxing, where a fighter's trainer throws a towel into the ring to signal surrender and stop the fight. The phrase (originally 'throw up the sponge') dates to the early 20th century.
Related idioms
🎓 Think you know your idioms?
Take the English Idioms Test — 20 terms, instant result, no signup.
Take the English Idioms TestBuilt by the team behind Deep In.