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To admit defeat or plead for mercy
- cry uncle To admit defeat or plead for mercy, especially in an informal physical contest of some kind.
idioms.thefreedictionary.com › cries+uncle
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Also, say uncle . Concede defeat, as in The Serbs want the Bosnians to cry uncle , or If you say uncle right now, I'll let you go first in the next game . This phrase originated about 1900 as an imperative among school-children who would say, “Cry uncle when you've had enough (of a beating).”.
cry uncle. To admit defeat or plead for mercy, especially in an informal physical contest of some kind. The brothers often play fought, but it was invariably the younger of the two who had to cry uncle by the end. See also: cry, uncle.
Feb 21, 2011 · There is no definitive history on the origin of the phrase, though there is plenty of speculation. The term, which is universally recognized as words that concede defeat (i.e., "I give up"), was ...
cry uncle. To admit defeat or plead for mercy, especially in an informal physical contest of some kind. The brothers often play fought, but it was invariably the younger of the two who had to cry uncle by the end. See also: cry, uncle.
Nov 28, 1998 · This call by one child for another to submit or cry for mercy — which appears variously as say uncle!, cry uncle! or holler uncle! — is first recorded in print in the US early in the twentieth century. The Oxford English Dictionary ’s first example is from 1918, but I’ve found an instance in an advertisement in the Modesto News of ...
Cry-uncle Definition. (US, idiomatic) To beg for mercy; to give up; to ask to stop (something painful or unbearable). Anyone who doesn't cry uncle after the first week will probably last the season.
Aug 31, 2023 · cry uncle (third-person singular simple present cries uncle, present participle crying uncle, simple past and past participle cried uncle) ( US , colloquial ) To beg for mercy ; to give up , admit defeat.
