Idiom
pick up one's marbles and go home
Meaning
To abruptly leave or abandon a situation or activity in which one is dissatisfied with the way it is progressing.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He did not win, so he picked up his marbles and went home.”
“When the team started losing, the captain picked up his marbles and went home, leaving the rest of us to finish the game.”
“Rather than engaging in a constructive debate about the proposed changes, the board member picked up his marbles and went home, effectively stalling the entire project.”
Examples
simple
“He did not win, so he picked up his marbles and went home.”
contextual
“When the team started losing, the captain picked up his marbles and went home, leaving the rest of us to finish the game.”
complex
“Rather than engaging in a constructive debate about the proposed changes, the board member picked up his marbles and went home, effectively stalling the entire project.”
Key words
Related idioms
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