throw in the towel ( or sponge) abandon a struggle; admit defeat.
Boxers or their trainers traditionally signal defeat by throwing the towel or sponge used to wipe a contestant's face into the middle of the ring. ‘The Mexican great saw his challenge end when his corner threw in the towel in the closing seconds of round 11.’ ‘One of his cornermen surprisingly decided to throw in the towel to spark a 3-way disagreement between his assistant and the fighter himself.’
throw in the towel meaning: 1. to admit defeat 2. to stop trying to do something because you have realized that you cannot…. Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017. Easy Learning Idioms Dictionary.
throw in the towel.
To quit. Learn more. threw in the towel phrase. throw in the towel.
What does threw in the towel expression mean? It seemed, initially, as if the police had thrown in the towel and were planning to abandon the investigation, but the following day the interviews resumed. to stop trying to do something, because you know that you cannot succeed. Cambridge Dictionary +Plus
Definitions by the largest Idiom Dictionary. Despite the surface similarity, the two phrases are unconnected.Murphy went after him, landing right and left undefended face. The crowd importuned referee Griffin to stop the fight and a towel was thrown from Burns' corner as a token of defeat.To throw in the towel (or, to throw the towel in) is to give up, to avoid further punishment when facing certain defeat.
When a boxer is too beat up to continue, his coach throws a towel into the ring to signal that the fight is over. See also: throw, towel. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers. Definition of threw in the towel in the Idioms Dictionary. 'To throw up the sponge,' to submit, give over the struggle, - from the practice of throwing up the sponge used to cleanse the combatants' faces, at a prize-fight, as a signal that the 'mill' is concluded.
To throw in the towel (or, to throw the towel in) is to give up, to avoid further punishment when facing certain defeat. (of boxers or their seconds) throw a towel (or sponge) into the ring as a token of defeat. also throw in the sponge Meaning: to quit; to admit defeat or failure; to fail; to give up; to concede (a match, a duel, a bout, etc.) This phrase comes from boxing. Curiously, throwing a hat into the ring has pretty much the opposite meaning to throwing in a towel - one means join a contest and the other means leave it.