cry quits
Preserved but no longer current.
When two boys quarrel, and one has had enough, he says, "Cry quits," mean- ing, "Let us leave off, and call it a drawn game." Sb in an unequal distribution, he who has the largest share restores a portion and "cries quits," meaning that he has made the distribution equal. Here quit means "acquittal" or discharge.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “cry quits” mean?
When two boys quarrel, and one has had enough, he says, "Cry quits," mean- ing, "Let us leave off, and call it a drawn game." Sb in an unequal distribution, he who has the largest share restores a portion and "cries quits," meaning that he has made the distribution equal. Here quit means "acquittal" or discharge.
Is “cry quits” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.