hand in one's checks

hand in one's checks (third-person singular simple present hands in one's checks, present participle handing in one's checks, simple past and past participle handed in one's checks)

1. (US, colloquial) To die.

   Synonym: pass in one's checks

   • 1905, Will Wilfrid Whalen, Bridget, Or, What's in a Name?, Mayhew Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 2:

     When my ole woman was sick last winter and mighty near handing in her checks, I had no money to pay anybody to take care of her.

2. (US, colloquial) To give up; to concede defeat.
   • 1926, G. K. Chesterton, The Incredulity of Father Brown:

     'I give up,' he cried; 'I hand in my checks. I never thought I should come to such things; but what happens when the things come to you? […] '

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see hand in,‎ one's,‎ checks.
   • 1887, “Charles Mayer et al. vs. Philip Heidelbach et al., Appellants' Brief”, in New York Superior Court General Term, volume 10, page 5:

     As between the plaintiffs and the Harrisons the transaction was precisely the same as if the plaintiffs, standing at the counter of Harrisons' Bank, handed in their checks, took the money over the counter, and then handed it right back again to pay for the drafts.