throw in one's hand

throw in one's hand idiom
Give up, abandon, as in I'm through trying to assemble it; I'm throwing in my hand. This expression comes from card games such as poker, where it is used to retire from the game. Its figurative use dates from the 1920s.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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