Echar el resto

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/e·ˈt͡ʃaɾ el ˈres·to/

To throw the rest.

Frequency

ConversationCommon

JournalismCommon

LiteraryOccasional

AcademicRare

In English

to give it everything you've got; **to give it everything you've got**; **to go all out**; **to pull out all the stops**; **to give one's all**; **to go all in**

Meaning

Echar el resto means to make one final all-out effort by committing everything that remains.

Examples

En la segunda parte echaron el resto.

They went all out in the second half.

Ahora tenemos que echar el resto.

Now we have to give it everything we've got.

Si quieres aprobar, tendrás que echar el resto.

If you want to pass, you'll have to give it your all.

The expression is used when success depends on making a last decisive push.

A football team may echar el resto during the final minutes of a match.

A student may echar el resto before an important exam.

A company may echar el resto to save a major project.

The idiom conveys determination, commitment and the willingness to leave nothing in reserve.

Used when

gives their maximum effort
uses every available resource
makes one last decisive attempt
refuses to give up
goes all in during the final stage of a challenge

Origin

The expression comes from gambling.

The resto was the amount of money a player still had available after previous bets.

To echar el resto meant staking everything that remained on one final wager.

Over time, the gambling metaphor spread into everyday Spanish, where it came to mean committing every remaining resource in pursuit of success.

Although many speakers are unaware of its origin, the image of "going all in" still survives in the idiom.

Cultural note

Spanish speakers often use echar el resto when discussing moments that require total commitment.

Unlike simply esforzarse ("to make an effort"), the idiom suggests that there will be no second chance.

Everything depends on this final push.

For that reason, it is especially common in sport, elections, business negotiations and personal challenges.

Did you know?

Although its gambling origin is largely forgotten, echar el resto still preserves the emotional force of risking everything on a final move.

That is why the expression is especially popular in sports commentary, where teams often echan el resto during the closing minutes of a match, hoping that one last effort will change the outcome.

For English speakers

Do not translate the expression literally.

English speakers would never say:

Throw the rest.

Instead, choose expressions such as:

Go all out.
Give it everything you've got.
Pull out all the stops.
Go all in.

The best translation depends on the context.