to give up the ghost
01
to stop living
![to [give] up the ghost definition and meaning](https://cdn.langeek.co/photo/17775/original/dead?type=jpeg "to [give] up the ghost definition and meaning")
Idiom
Informal
例
After a long battle with illness, the elderly man peacefully gave up the ghost in his sleep.
02
(of a machine) to fail to work properly
![to [give] up the ghost definition and meaning](https://cdn.langeek.co/photo/49832/original/?type=jpeg "to [give] up the ghost definition and meaning")
Idiom
Informal
例
My old car finally gave up the ghost; it stopped running altogether and could n't be fixed.
03
to put an stop to an activity one knows has very little or no chance of achieving success
Dialect
British
British![to [give] up the ghost definition and meaning](https://cdn.langeek.co/photo/43146/original/?type=jpeg "to [give] up the ghost definition and meaning")
例
All I'd cherished from early childhood had been denied me, so I simply gave up the ghost.
