cry uncle
Also, say uncle. Concede defeat, as in The Serbs want the Bosnians to cry uncle, or If you say uncle right now, I'll let you go first in the next game. This phrase originated about 1900 as an imperative among school-children who would say, “Cry uncle when you've had enough (of a beating).” By the mid-1900s it was being used figuratively, as in the examples.
Words Nearby cry uncle
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
How to use cry uncle in a sentence
When Pakistan imposed the border closing last fall, it was confident that NATO would have to cry uncle fairly soon.
NATO Summit’s Big Loser: Behind Obama’s Snub of Pakistan | Bruce Riedel | May 22, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
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