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throw in the sponge
Slang Dictionary

sponge definition


and spunge
  1. in.
    to drink heavily. : She was sponging like there was no tomorrow.
  2. n.
    a drunkard; a tippler. (See also blotter.) : She was a spunge, and she wasn't going to do anything about it.
  3. n.
    a parasitic person. : Here comes that sponge, Willy. Hide your wallet, pencils, glasses, and any clothes in his size.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Slang Dictionary

throw in the towel definition


and throw in the sponge; toss in the sponge
  1. 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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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

throw in the sponge

Also, throw in the towel. Give up, acknowledge defeat, as in I can't move this rock; I'm throwing in the sponge, or Bill decided to throw in the towel and resign from his job. This idiom comes from boxing, where formerly a fighter (or his second) conceded defeat by throwing the sponge or towel used to wipe his face into the ring. [c. 1900]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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