Say it like this
Real examples
"I've been stuck on this memory leak for two days. I'm close to throwing in the towel and asking for help."
"Not throwing in the towel yet, but this API integration is way harder than we expected."
"Tried three different approaches. Almost threw in the towel but finally got the tests passing."
"After investigating for 8 hours, I'm throwing in the towel on fixing this legacy code. Recommend we rewrite instead."
"We almost threw in the towel mid-sprint, but the support from QA helped us push through."
"If we hit major blockers on this feature, should we throw in the towel or extend the deadline?"
"I was about to throw in the towel when you spotted that typo in the config file."
Don't say this
Handle with care. Saying you're "throwing in the towel" too often may make you seem like you give up easily. Use sparingly and explain your reasoning.
Other forms
throw in the towel
"Don't throw in the towel just yet."
throwing in the towel
"I'm throwing in the towel on this approach."
threw in the towel
"We threw in the towel after two weeks."
have thrown in the towel
"They've thrown in the towel on the mobile app."
to throw in the towel
"It's too early to throw in the towel."
Often used with
Similar words
Opposites
More words
Questions
Want more structured practice like this? Our English for Programmers course covers real workplace English in depth.
Sign in to mark this lesson complete and track it in your course progress.
Sign inSign in to collect badges as you complete lessons.
