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Glite Dictionary
to jack it

to jack it

9.9
To stop doing something suddenly because you are frustrated
  • phrasal verb
  • Slang
translation icon : abandonar
  • - Then let's jack it!

Examples

  • After struggling for hours, he decided to jack it and go home instead.

  • She was tired of the project, so she chose to jack it and move on to something else.

  • You have to work the system, not jack it.

    Light It Up (1999)

  • Feeling overwhelmed, he thought it best to jack it rather than continue with the difficult task.

Synonyms

to give up
vsto jack it
∞ 1.2

To stop trying to do something or accept defeat

is more abrupt and driven by irritation or lack of interest
to give it up
vsto jack it
683 3.7

To stop doing something you once did

stops abruptly out of frustration rather than by choice
to quit
vsto jack it
653 1.5

To stop trying when something is too hard

is more sudden and often from frustration rather than defeat
to call it quits
vsto jack it
  • Informal
34 3.9

To stop doing something because you cannot continue or feel you have done enough

is more sudden and impulsive, caused by frustration or boredom
to throw in the towel
vsto jack it
  • Informal
27 4.8

To stop trying because you know you cannot succeed

is more abrupt and often from irritation or losing interest
to drop by the wayside
vsto jack it
  • Informal
1 7.5

Stop taking part because it becomes too difficult

is a sudden abandonment driven by immediate frustration or disinterest
to drop like an anvil
vsto jack it
  • Informal
9.7

To suddenly and completely stop supporting something

abandons suddenly from frustration or loss of interest
to chuck up the sponge
vsto jack it
  • UK
9.9

To stop trying because it seems pointless

happens more suddenly and from frustration rather than futility

Antonyms

to persist
62 3.7

To keep doing something or keep holding a belief despite difficulty

to persevere
22 5.1

Keep trying to do something even when it is hard

How Abrupt

to walk out
  • Informal
112 3.4
to jack it
  • Slang
9.9
to give up
∞ 1.2
stop
310 1.0
to step back
101 3.6

Surface Forms

jack it infinitive
jacked it past
jacked it past participle
jacking it present participle
jacks it third person singular

Morphology

jack + it

The idiomatic slang sense 'to abandon or give up' is not derivable from the literal constituents: 'jack' (here a slang noun meaning 'nothing') plus the pronoun 'it' do not compose to the MWE meaning. This is an informal, language-specific usage (often seen as 'jack it in' or 'jack in') that learners must have encountered to understand, so it is unpredictable for a B1 learner.

Etymology

Jack it may come from the old phrase jack in; imagine a worker who drops a small tool called a jack and simply walks away, leaving the job. That's why jack it now means 'to give up' or 'abandon' something when you are fed up.