call it quits

1. Stop working, abandon something, give up, as in John is calling it quits for now or This ground is far too stony for a garden so I'm calling it quits. This idiom comes from cry quits, dating from the 1600s and meaning “declare even” or “get even.” The verb call was substituted in the late 1800s. Also see call it a day.

Example Sentences

It wasn’t until the first flash of lightning that Roz finally called it quits.

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At the point they were ready to call it quits, the band was struggling to sell enough tickets to their shows to keep the dream alive.

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The point when it becomes too much is when the Democrats start losing the PR battle, if the narrative shifts to blaming the Democrats then it might be time to call it quits.

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Perhaps it was a jinx, but a little more than eight months later, the Gallagher brothers would call it quits on August 22, 2009, at the V Festival in Weston Park, England.

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At a time when most of their peers have retired, threatened to call it quits or died, the Beach Boys continue to perform 120 shows per year.

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Related Words

• abandon 
• break off 
• cease 
• conclude 
• discontinue 
• drop 
• give up 
• halt 
• leave 
• retire 
• suspend 
• terminate 
• withdraw