English Explanatory Dictionary

throw up the sponge

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To give up a contest; to acknowledge defeat; to throw in the towel.

Pronunciation

En-au-throw up the sponge.ogg

Word forms

throw up the sponge throws up the sponge throwing up the sponge threw up the sponge thrown up the sponge

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.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on T Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary