white flag, hang out/show the
white flag, hang out/show the
Surrender; give up, yield. In military circles the white flag betokened surrender by 1600 or so. “A ship garnished with white flags of peace,” wrote Philemon Holland in his 1600 translation of the Roman historian Livy.
See also: hang, out, show, white
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- white flag
- wave a/the white flag
- nail (one's) colors to the mast
- nail (one's) colours to the mast
- nail one's colors to the mast
- nail your colours to the mast
- show a/the white flag
- white flag, show the
- white as snow
- (as) white as snow