to stop trying to do something because you have realized that you cannot succeed
認輸;覺得成功無望而放棄
throw in the towel字面意義是“丢毛巾進去”。拳擊比賽時，教練如果判斷(duàn)他的選手不能獲勝，有時會叫助手扔條毛巾進入場(chǎng)中(throw in the towel)，裁判就會立刻停止比賽 。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.
我準備(bèi)認輸瞭(le)，但是我還在堅持。
