Spanish term
sacar la mano
Here is the section where the phrase is used:
"Corrió como un poseso. Pero como un poseso viejo. A las cinco calles sacó la mano. En Juan de Mena tuvo que apoyarse en el capó de una camioneta para recuperar el aliento."
I'm unsure of the meaning of the phrase and can't seem to find anything in dictionaries to clarify it, so if anyone has any suggestions for the meaning or translation, any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
Mar 17, 2014 11:23: Jessica Noyes changed "Term asked" from "\"sacar la mano\"" to "sacar la mano"
Proposed translations
ground to a halt
1. "sacar la mano", we use this expresion to say that something is broken down, for example: el abanico saco la mano= the fan is broken down= el abanico se daño....
In this context, the running man has had to stop to take breath.
Spain
Samuel Sebastian Holden Bramah
Not just bilingual, bicultural too.
Native in: Spanish (Variants: Mexican, Venezuelan, Latin American, Colombian, Canarian, Standard-Spain, Argentine, Ecuadorian ) 
, English (Variants: US, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, British, UK)
Works in: Catalan to English, Spanish to English
gave up the ghost
Estaba tan hecho polvo que tuvo que parar... además enlaza bien con tu otra pregunta sobre escupir el alma and could actually work better as a whole.
| disagree |
Yvonne Gallagher
: he didn't /the expression means "he died" but it's quite clear he didn't
20 hrs
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but his lungs did... and then he started hacking them out ;)
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Spain
Samuel Sebastian Holden Bramah
Not just bilingual, bicultural too.
Native in: Spanish (Variants: Mexican, Venezuelan, Latin American, Colombian, Canarian, Standard-Spain, Argentine, Ecuadorian ) , English (Variants: US, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, British, UK)
Works in: Catalan to English, Spanish to English
Was winded
I think it is a good simile.
Italy
Accuracy, reliability and timeliness
Native in: English
Works in: Italian to English, Spanish to English
stopped, exhausted ...
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Note added at 2 hrs (2014-03-17 13:31:45 GMT)
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an alternative to exhausted could be the British slang term "knackered".
United States
True words...
Native in: English (Variant: US) 
, Spanish (Variant: Latin American)
Works in: Spanish to English, Spanish, English, and 1 more.
he threw the towel
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Note added at 5 hrs (2014-03-17 16:09:40 GMT)
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Yep, "he threw IN the towel" is right.
| agree |
Mario Freitas
:
1 hr
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Thanks!
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| neutral |
Rebecca Hendry
: Not sure about the US, but in the UK you "throw IN the towel".
2 hrs
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It's up to you to say throw in or just throw the towel. I've heard it both ways. Perhaps it depends on the context.
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| agree |
Alejandra Tolj
4 hrs
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Thanks so much!
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| neutral |
patinba
: This would only work if he gave up the chase, not if he halted to get his breath back.
6 hrs
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Well, that's exactly what "sacar la mano" means.
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| neutral |
James A. Walsh
: Agree with patinba. I think he "throws in the towel" in the next sentence, so hasn't quite dropped yet.
9 hrs
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| neutral |
Yvonne Gallagher
: also agree with Patinba and with Rebecca: throw IN
19 hrs
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Spain
A cut above the rest in translation...
Native in: English (Variants: US, UK, Irish) , Spanish (Variants: Standard-Spain, Latin American)
Works in: Spanish to English, French to English, English to Spanish, and 2 more.
ready to drop
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Note added at 11 hrs (2014-03-17 22:57:03 GMT)
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*BusHed
Discussion
Yo entiendo sacar la mano como que se canso mucho y tuvo que "sacar la mano" para apoyarse.
I would go for a descriptive passage saying that after five blocks he was so winded that he had to lean against a car hood to catch his breath