throw up the sponge

verb

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

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Meanings

verbthrow up the sponge (third-person singular simple present throws up the sponge, present participle throwing up the sponge, simple past threw up the sponge, past participle thrown up the sponge)

present singular third person throws up the sponge · participle present throwing up the sponge · past threw up the sponge · participle past thrown up the sponge

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

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

    1870, James Russell Lowell, “Lessing”, in Among My Books, Boston, Mass.: Fields, Osgood, & Co., →OCLC, page 330
    1 more example

    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.

    1958 July 28, R. K. Kirkland, “Into the Mountains on the Festiniog Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 450

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
strike one's flagthrow in the spongethrow in the towel

Origin

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.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

throw up the sponge. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/throw%20up%20the%20sponge

MLA

“throw up the sponge.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/throw%20up%20the%20sponge. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “throw up the sponge,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/throw%20up%20the%20sponge.

Source: throw up the sponge on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.