give up the ghost

Idioms and Phrases

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