cash in one's chips

present singular third person cashes in one's chips · participle present cashing in one's chips · participle past cashed in one's chips · past cashed in one's chips

1. idiomaticTo discontinue an activity, accepting whatever gains or losses one has incurred; to give up.

   "Looks like these grandees'll have to cash in their chips and quit, but it's a darned shame."

   1913, B. M. Bower, chapter 13, in The Gringos

   2 more examples

   Yesterday the polo-playing executive cashed in his chips at Harrah's to take a post with even higher stakes, agreeing to become president and chief executive of Resorts International Inc.

   1988 October 25, Andrea Adelson, “Business People: Harrah's Officer Joins Resorts International”, in New York Times, retrieved 14 Jun 2011

   "I am not going to stand by and watch this company bleed to death. If we can't make money, I will cash in my chips."

   2005 June 21, Thomas McCarroll, “Corporate Raider on the Ropes”, in Time

2. idiomaticTo die.

   A tough old hombre, unregenerate to the last, cashed in his chips in Oklahoma City the other day.

   1950 January 10, H. L. MacPherson, “Another Outlaw Dies With Boots Off”, in Windsor Star, Canada, retrieved 14 Jun 2011

   2 more examples

   So what are trained readers of spy novels supposed to believe when Michael cashes in his chips and two strangers arrive to remove his body from the premises?

   1982 January 24, Evan Hunter, “Spies and Moles and Other Entertainers”, in New York Times, retrieved 14 Jun 2011

   Two years and one month ago I broke my neck in a car accident. I made it through but just barely. I came real close to cashing in my chips.

   2007 Feb. 7, Cowboy Dan Lewis, "Two Birds, But No Stone," Julian News (California, USA), p. 6 (retrieved 14 June 2011)

   Synonyms: die