give up the ghost

1. Die, as in At ten o'clock he gave up the ghost. This expression, which employs ghost in the sense of “the soul or spirit,” may itself be dying out. [Late 1300s]

Related Words

• bow 
• break down 
• buckle 
• capitulate 
• cave in 
• cease 
• defer 
• give in 
• give way 
• go down 
• pass away 
• perish 
• quit 
• wilt 
• yield