bow out
/ (baʊ) /
(adverb; usually tr often foll by of) to retire or withdraw gracefully
Words Nearby bow out
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
How to use bow out in a sentence
True, she was only a second-string nominee, after Tom Daschle had to bow out because of those tax problems.
Will Kathleen Sebelius Win in the End? Legacy Tied to Obamacare’s Outcome | Michael Tomasky | April 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd it seems unlikely that Berlusconi is ready to bow out, especially after such a miraculous comeback.
Ingovernabilita! Inside Italy’s Election Limbo | Barbie Latza Nadeau | February 26, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTHer close friend, Magdalena Rodriguez, was to have accompanied her on the trip but was forced to bow out for financial reasons.
Sarai Sierra, American Slain in Istanbul, Was an Artist in the Making | Michael Daly | February 5, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTGiven her advanced age and storied career, wouldn't the aftermath of the surgery have been a good time to gracefully bow out?
Barbara Walters Opens Up About Her Heart Surgery | Howard Kurtz | February 2, 2011 | THE DAILY BEASTThe federal courts should just bow out, they say, of deciding things like gay marriage (and abortion rights).
He used to shoot arrows with a bow out of the door of the house and hit a mark on a tree that was opposite him.
The King of Ireland's Son | Padraic ColumEdith leaned over the terrace wall, and took the double-bass bow out of the tall clump of sweet peas.
Dodo's Daughter | E. F. BensonI took a bow out of a man's hand, and then an arrow, and fitted it to the string; he made signs that he shot birds with it.
Life of John Coleridge Patteson | Charlotte M. YongeAnd all this Inter-Solar man would do now was to bow out and try poaching elsewhere.
Plague Ship | Andre NortonHe pulled the violin and bow out of the old baize bag and fiddled as we walked.
The Belovd Vagabond | William J. Locke
Other Idioms and Phrases with bow out
Depart, withdraw, resign, as in After five years as chairman, I felt it was time I bowed out, or We'll have to beat them; they'll never bow out. [First half of 1900s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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