cash in one's chips

Definitions

1. 1

   To discontinue an activity, accepting whatever gains or losses one has incurred

   To discontinue an activity, accepting whatever gains or losses one has incurred; to give up.

   • "Looks like these grandees'll have to cash in their chips and quit, but it's a darned shame."
   • Yesterday the polo-playing executive cashed in his chips at Harrah's to take a post with even higher stakes, agreeing to become president and chief executive of Resorts International Inc.
   • "I am not going to stand by and watch this company bleed to death. If we can't make money, I will cash in my chips."
2. 2

   To die.

   • A tough old hombre, unregenerate to the last, cashed in his chips in Oklahoma City the other day.
   • So what are trained readers of spy novels supposed to believe when Michael cashes in his chips and two strangers arrive to remove his body from the premises?
   • Two years and one month ago I broke my neck in a car accident. I made it through but just barely. I came real close to cashing in my chips.

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