give up the ghost

1. (intransitive, idiomatic) To cease clinging to life; to die.

   Synonyms: yield up the ghost, yield the ghost, Thesaurus:die

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Mark 15:37 ↗:

     And Ieſus cryed with a loude voice, and gaue vp the ghoſt.

2. (intransitive, idiomatic, figuratively) To quit; to cease functioning.

   My old computer finally gave up the ghost the other day.

3. (intransitive, with of) To cede a commitment to or identification with.
   • 1995, Bad Boys

     Burnett holds the door while Lowrey holds Francine. She's broken, crying, and giving up the ghost of her past.

• French: rendre l'âme
• German: den Geist aufgeben
• Italian: rendere l'anima, esalare l'ultimo respiro
• Portuguese: bater as botas, vestir o paletó de madeira
• Russian: испусти́ть дух
• Spanish: entregar el alma, entregar el alma a Dios, (colloquial) entregar el equipo, pasar a mejor vida