chuck up the sponge
chuck up the sponge verb: to quit; to give up; to admit defeat.
Verb
chuck up the sponge (third-person singular simple present chucks up the sponge, present participle chucking up the sponge, simple past and past participle chucked up the sponge)
- To quit; to give up; to admit defeat.
- The fighting spirit of the German army is supplied by the officer and N. C. O. It has been proved that when a German soldier sees his bayonet his fighting value is finished — he "chucks up the sponge."1916, Pamphlets on the European War - Volume 26, page 10
- A bombing attack along a trench can only be met by a bomb defence. The bayonet is practically neglected by the Bosche, except when our men compel him to use it. He is not much good with it, and if his bomb defence fails him, usually chucks up the sponge.1918, Dixhuit, Safety in Trench Warfare for Yourself & Your Men
Forms of chuck up the sponge
| third-person singular present | chucks up the sponge |
|---|---|
| present participle | chucking up the sponge |
| past participle | chucked up the sponge |
| past | chucked up the sponge |
Questions about chuck up the sponge
- What does chuck up the sponge mean?
- Chuck up the sponge means to quit; to give up; to admit defeat.
- What part of speech is chuck up the sponge?
- Chuck up the sponge is a verb.
- What is the past tense of chuck up the sponge?
- The past tense of chuck up the sponge is chucked up the sponge.
Words near chuck up the sponge in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: chuck up the sponge (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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