give up the ghost
to die
humorous If a machine gives up the ghost, it stops working:
Our old TV had finally given up the ghost.
UK to stop trying to do something because you know that you will not succeed:
All I'd cherished from early childhood had been denied me, so I simply gave up the ghost.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Death and dying
- be pushing up (the) daisies idiom
- bereave
- bite
- bury
- buy the farm idiom
- deceased
- depart
- done
- drop
- expire
- foot
- gone
- inquest
- loss
- peg
- posthumous
- road kill
- SIDS
- sudden infant death syndrome
- the disappeared
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Machines - not functioning
Stop having or doing something