throw in the sponge informal
toss in the sponge informal
throw in the towel informal

"But I will not throw in the sponge," he added.

Maybe the Politburo had decided to throw in the sponge.

It's clear to all that he won't get up, and his ring man throws in the sponge.

But the lawyers for the dead couple, far from throwing in the sponge, resorted to Parliament.

Back in 1918, the shooting had stopped because the Bodies threw in the sponge.

Ben Dunn did best, lasting nineteen rounds before his corner threw in the sponge.

His corner can't do nothin' but throw in the sponge.

Then we threw in the sponge.

"You wish to throw in the sponge?"

Should you throw in the sponge?

It has thrown in the sponge.

Why hadn't Al Smith thrown in the sponge, dammit?

'We'll give you a thousand pounds if you throw in the sponge,' he whispers.

When he'd first seen the car parked next to Kelly's Subaru, he'd come close to throwing in the sponge right then.

He rather let the side down during the inter-school championships by throwing in the sponge, which knocked the referee's glasses crooked.

'So what,' I said, resigned and bitter at it all, ready to throw in the sponge, come what might.

'And now it is gone, all gone.the communists have thrown in the sponge and left us bouncing around in the ring looking for an opponent.

Losing that fight had made the U.K. throw in the sponge in the Great War.

"If you didn't realize you were dealing with individual people like Patricia you'd be ready to throw in the sponge," Dr. Dehavenon said.

In a hard-fought contest, Kilrain lost at the start of the 76th round when Mike Donovan, his second, threw in the sponge.

We might want to throw in the sponge and go home, saying the European project was a fine thing, but there were forces and beliefs too strong for it to overcome.

"I know some people get disheartened, and I know some people want to throw in the sponge and give up, but I can't do that.

The alternative was withdrawal, "throwing in the sponge before the knockdown," and that would have "intolerable political, moral and psychological consequences," according to a military analyst for The Times.

He replied that he was more disappointed than frustrated and that he was "not ready to throw in the sponge and say, 'No, I can't fix things.' "

So I did, just for a fortnight, but it was fourteen miles there in the morning, and fourteen back at night, and I'm afraid I threw in the sponge!

Why should we throw in the towel after a few bad weeks.

Or do you want to throw in the towel now?

There were many times I wanted to throw in the towel.

Two weeks ago I was ready to throw in the towel.

Some guys just never knew when to throw in the towel.

"That we throw in the towel and report the problem to Washington?"

All I know is, you've got to act like it has, or you might as well throw in the towel.

Everybody is starting to throw in the towel for the day.

"I saw a fight last almost two hours before one guy threw in the towel."

Three weeks after I started, the poor man who tried to lead us threw in the towel.

If my boy even looks like being hurt we throw in the towel.

But the "yes" side has yet to throw in the towel.

But Bell was not a man to throw in the towel.

But the domestic industry was not throwing in the towel.

They could have easily said this game was over with and thrown in the towel.

"They kind of throw in the towel as very much a last resort."

When's it better just to throw in the towel, so to speak?

Sometimes, an entrepreneur has to know when to throw in the towel.

Would it make him throw in the towel and storm away without ever looking back?

"He could have just thrown in the towel any time - a lot of men would," she said.

"A lot of people would just throw in the towel.

Maybe I should say they didn't throw in the towel.

"We've been given no end date, but I'm about ready to throw in the towel and set course for home."

But this is a horse who never throws in the towel.

Those who produce alternative power are not ready to throw in the towel, either.