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game is up, the



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Idioms and Phrases

Also, the jig is up . The trick or deception has been exposed. For example, When they took inventory they realized what was missing, and the game was up for the department head . This expression dates from the mid-1800s and uses up in the sense of “over” or “lost.” The variant employs jig in the sense of “trickery,” a usage dating from about 1600.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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