Advertisement

Advertisement

beat a retreat

Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

Also, beat a hasty retreat . Reverse course or withdraw, usually quickly. For example, I really don't want to run into Jeff—let's beat a retreat . This term originally (1300s) referred to the military practice of sounding drums to call back troops. Today it is used only figuratively, as in the example above.

Advertisement

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

beat a path to someone's doorbeat around the bush

Browse

  • #
  • aa
  • bb
  • cc
  • dd
  • ee
  • ff
  • gg
  • hh
  • ii
  • jj
  • kk
  • ll
  • mm
  • nn
  • oo
  • pp
  • qq
  • rr
  • ss
  • tt
  • uu
  • vv
  • ww
  • xx
  • yy
  • zz