音(ね)を上(あ)げる

ねをあげる
expression
to give up; to throw in the towel; to cry uncle
idiomemotion
1. to give up; to throw in the towel; to complain that something is too hard
To admit that one cannot bear something any longer, crying out that it is too hard, too painful, or too much work.
すぐに音(ね)を上(あ)げる。
To give up right away.
厳(きび)しい練習(れんしゅう)に音(ね)を上(あ)げた。
I cried uncle at the tough training.
毎日(まいにち)の残業(ざんぎょう)が続(つづ)いても、彼女(かのじょ)は一度(いちど)も音(ね)を上(あ)げなかった。
Even when the overtime went on day after day, she never once complained that it was too much.

音(ね) is an old word for a sound or cry, the reading also found in 本音(ほんね). The thing that is too hard is marked with に. Very often negative, as praise for endurance: 音(ね)を上(あ)げない, 音(ね)を上(あ)げずに.

Common patterns

  • 〜に音(ね)を上(あ)げる: to give up at ~
  • 一度(いちど)も音(ね)を上(あ)げない: never once give up

Watch out

  • Read ね, not おと: 音(おと)を上(あ)げる is not a phrase.

Similar words

Related Words

Compare: 諦(あきら)める (to give up)
Compare: 降参(こうさん) (to surrender)
Compare: 弱音(よわね)を吐(は)く (to whine, to say one can't go on)
general
Added 2026.9.28 9:59 · Revised 2026.9.28 9:59
31000/31113_newoageru