take a back seat

1. Occupy an inferior position; allow another to be in control. For example, Linda was content to take a back seat and let Nancy run the meeting. This idiom uses back seat in contrast to the driver's seat, that is, the one in control. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

And the rule of law has to take a back seat to the logic of the battlefield, where winning is all that matters and victory justifies everything.

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Musk himself has hinted he could leave Tesla or take a back seat if his ownership share is not raised enough to give him the influence over its future that he desires.

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When individual members of Congress from across the country take a back seat, their districts’ distinctly local problems are less likely to be addressed with the power and resources that Congress can bring to an issue.

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Car sales might take a back seat to artificial intelligence on the earnings conference call, however.

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And do the most obvious mechanisms for lessening screen time—putting your phone away, acting like an actual human being sometimes, or taking a walk outside—really need to take a back seat to industry?

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