throw in the towel

noun

an absorbent cloth or paper for wiping and drying something wet, as one for the hands, face, or body after washing or bathing.

verb (used with object)

to wipe or dry with a towel.

Idioms

throw in the towel, Informal. to concede defeat; give up; yield: He vowed he would never throw in the towel.

Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English (noun) < Old French toaille cloth for washing or wiping < West Germanic *thwahliō (> Old High German dwahilla, akin to dwahal bath); cognate with Gothic thwahl, thwēal washing

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins

World English Dictionary

towel (ˈtaʊəl)

—n
1.	a square or rectangular piece of absorbent cloth or paper used for drying the body
2.	a similar piece of cloth used for drying plates, cutlery, etc
3.	throw in the towel See throw in

—vb (often foll by up) , -els, -elling, -elled, -els, -eling, -eled
4.	to dry or wipe with a towel
5.	slang (Austral) to assault or beat (a person)

[C13: from Old French toaille, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German dwahal bath, Old Saxon twahila towel, Gothic thwahan to wash]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10

Throw in the towel is always a great word to know.

So is ort. Does it mean:

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

towel

1284, from O.Fr. toaille (12c.), from Frank. *thwahlja, from P.Gmc. *thwakhlijon (cf. O.S. thwahila, M.Du. dwale "towel," Du. dwaal "altar cloth," O.H.G. dwehila "towel," Ger. dial. Zwehle "napkin"); related to Ger. zwagen, O.E. þwean "to wash." Sp. toalla, It. tovaglia are Gmc. loan-words. The

verb is first recorded 1836. Towelette is recorded from 1902.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

throw in the towel definition

To quit in defeat. The phrase comes from boxing, in which a fighter indicates surrender by throwing a towel into the ring: “After losing the election, he threw in the towel on his political career.”

Slang Dictionary

throw in the towel definition

and throw in the sponge; toss in the sponge

tv.
to quit; to give up. (From boxing, where a towel or sponge thrown into the ring indicates that a boxer has given up.) : The candidate who was exposed by the press as a former pickpocket tossed in the sponge in a tearful press conference. , I'm done! I'm tossing in the sponge!

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Matching Quote

"[T]here is no situation so deplorable ... as that of a gentlewoman in real poverty.... Birth, family, and education become misfortunes when we cannot attain some means of supporting ourselves in the station they throw us into. Our friends and former acquaintances look on it as a disgrace to own us.... If we were to attempt getting our living by any trade, people in that station would think we were endeavoring to take their bread out of their mouths."

-Sarah Fielding

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throw in the towel

tow·el

throw in the towel definition

throw in the towel definition