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quits
[ kwits ]
adjective
- on equal terms by repayment or retaliation.
quits
/ kwɪts /
adjective
- on an equal footing; even
now we are quits
- call it quitsto agree to end a dispute, contest, etc, agreeing that honours are even
interjection
- an exclamation indicating willingness to give up
Word History and Origins
Idioms and Phrases
- call it quits,
- to end one's activity, especially temporarily:
At 10 o'clock I decided to call it quits for the day.
- to abandon an effort.
- cry quits, to agree to end competition and consider both sides equal:
It became too dark to continue play and they decided to cry quits.
Example Sentences
Despite its success, “Moon Music” is among Coldplay’s final projects, as the band plans to release just two more “proper albums” before calling it quits, Martin told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe last month.
One of the greatest unknowns remains the question of how many storm-weary operations will simply call it quits.
A woman who quits her job to be at home with her young son fears she is turning into a dog at night.
Adams plays an unnamed woman who quits her job as an artist to be at home full-time with her young son while her husband continues working.
The “Little Mermaid” star and the “I’m Geekin” rapper have called it quits after two years of dating and recently welcoming a baby boy.
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More About Quits
What else does quits mean?
Where does quits come from?
As with very many English words, the verb quit goes back to Latin via French. The root, here, is quietus, meaning “free” of such encumbrances as debt or conflict. Quiet and quite are related.
Quit is recorded in the early 1200s when it variously meant “to pay” a fee, penalty, or debt (hence the old sense of quits for “on equal terms by repayment or retaliation.”) By the 1400s, quit, for “leave” or “abandon,” was established. Quitting a job is found by the 1600s, and the verb remains widely used in that context today.
People also call it quits when they agree to end a dispute or a contest (or perhaps an unhealthy relationship) on equal terms. (By the 1660s, the term quits was used as an adjective meaning “on equal footing,” or “even.”) More commonly these days, the term “to call it quits” is used when someone decides to abandon an effort or venture.
Sweet Tomatoes shutters, Archive Bar & Kitchen calls it quits, and more Bay Area restaurant closures https://t.co/GktB7onYKG
— Eater SF (@eatersf) May 19, 2020
How is quits used in real life?
The word quit is fraught with drama. Whether you’re quitting a job or a grueling exercise routine, it’s usually due to struggle—as evidenced in the 2000s gaming expression to rage quit, used to describe when a gamer abruptly stops playing in a fit of emotional frustration. Young children may also issue a pouting I quit if they are fed up with losing in some game or play. Sometimes this use of quit is ironic and playful.
i’m tired can i quit yet
— e v e (@thequietstrum) May 25, 2020
In American culture, quitting a job, partner, or venture can sometimes be viewed negatively, equating the quitter with failure. However, quitting often describes freeing oneself from toxic situations—perhaps as when an employee quits work with some sweary flair. Think, too, of a bad relationship (romantic or professional) which has gone on for far too long before both parties decide to call it quits.
More examples of quits:
“Teen quits his job at Walmart over intercom, tears into company over treatment of employees”
—Morgan Gstalter, The Hill (headline), December 2018
Note
This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the term’s history, meaning, and usage.
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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