Idiom
Throw in the towel
To throw in the towel is to give up or admit that you cannot win or succeed.
How people use it
People use it when someone quits a contest, project, effort or argument: After three failed attempts at baking bread, I almost threw in the towel. It is informal and can sound neutral or a bit disappointed. It often appears with don't as encouragement: Don't throw in the towel yet. The older variant throw in the sponge is rarer today. The phrase is about giving up, not about cleaning or doing laundry.
Also said: throw in the sponge.
Examples
- After two hours stuck on the puzzle, Priya finally threw in the towel and checked the answer.
- Don't throw in the towel on your garden just because the first seeds didn't sprout.
- The team was down by twenty points, but nobody wanted to throw in the towel.
Where it comes from
The phrase comes from boxing. A boxer's trainer could end a fight by throwing a towel into the ring, a signal that their fighter should stop. In the 1800s people spoke of throwing up the sponge, the sponge used to wipe a boxer's face between rounds; throw in the towel became the usual form in the early 1900s.
Check yourself
1. If a runner throws in the towel halfway through a race, what does she do?
Answer: She gives up. Throw in the towel means quit or admit defeat.
2. Where does the idiom come from?
Answer: Boxing. A trainer threw a towel into the boxing ring to stop a fight.
Similar idioms
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