throw up one's hands, to
throw up one's hands
Indicate or express utter hopelessness. For example, Jim was getting nowhere so he threw up his hands and abandoned the argument. This idiom alludes to a traditional gesture for giving up.
See also: hand, throw, up
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
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
- What was (one) smoking?
- a back number
- back number
- be pushing up (the) daisies
- be pushing up daisies
- be pushing up the daisies
- chips are down, the
- binge-watch
- crab mentality
- smoke the peace pipe (with someone)