call it a day

Meaning

This phrase means to stop doing an activity, especially working, for the rest of the day. It is often used when people are tired, have accomplished enough, or cannot make any more progress. It is casual but perfectly acceptable to use with colleagues and managers.

Examples

• We've been working on this project for eight hours; let's call it a day.

  We've been working on this project for eight hours; let's call it a day.

• I'm exhausted, so I think I'm going to call it a day and head home.

  I'm exhausted, so I think I'm going to call it a day and head home.

• After fixing three cars, the mechanic decided to call it a day.

  After fixing three cars, the mechanic decided to call it a day.

• We didn't finish cleaning the garage, but let's call it a day and finish tomorrow.

  We didn't finish cleaning the garage, but let's call it a day and finish tomorrow.

• The rain started pouring, so we had to call it a day on the golf course.

  The rain started pouring, so we had to call it a day on the golf course.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ Let's call it the day.

  ✓ Let's call it a day.

  The idiom is a fixed phrase using the indefinite article 'a'. Changing it to 'the' makes it sound unnatural and incorrect.

• ✗ I decided to call it a day my job.

  ✓ I decided to call it a day at work.

  'Call it a day' is an intransitive idiom and cannot take a direct object like 'my job'. Use it by itself or with a prepositional phrase like 'at work' or 'on the project'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• It's already 7 PM, so let's ___ and resume tomorrow morning.

  💡 Stop working for today

  Show answer

  call it a day

• After writing three essays, I decided to ___.

  💡 Finish working for the day

  Show answer

  call it a day