throw in the towel to stop trying to do something because you have realized that you cannot succeed 认输;觉得成功无望而放弃 throw in the towel字面意义是“丢毛巾进去”。拳击比赛时，教练如果判断他的选手不能获胜，有时会叫助手扔条毛巾进入场中(throw in the towel)，裁判就会立刻停止比赛。因此，throw in the towel就代表“投降”的意思。 I was ready to throw in the towel, but I stayed with it. 我准备认输了，但是我还在坚持。