throw up hands
Related to throw up hands: give up
throw up (one's) hands
To submit or give up. I'm ready to throw up my hands after trying to train this unruly puppy. Don't just throw up your hands—keep trying.
See also: hand, throw, up
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
throw up (one's) hands
To indicate or express utter hopelessness: He threw up his hands and abandoned the argument.
See also: hand, throw, up
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
throw up one's hands, to
To express despair, frustration, or exasperation. Although this gesture must be very old indeed, the expression appeared in print only from the late nineteenth century. George M. Fenn used it in The Double Knot (1890): “The woman threw up her hands and reeled.”
See also: throw, up
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- throw up one's hands
- at the
- put (one's) hands up
- out of (one's) hands
- out of hands
- out of somebody's hands
- out of your hands
- have (one's) hands on (something)
- be good with (one's) hands
- be good with your hands