Meaning of throw up the sponge | Babel Free

Definitions

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

archaic, idiomatic, intransitive, slang

Examples

“But he was too brave a man to throw up the sponge to fate, and had work to do yet.”

“At a time when official railway operators throw up the sponge for much less reason, it seems that only voluntary enthusiasm would ever contemplate the task at all.”

CEFR level