turn tail

Idioms  

1. Run away, as in When they heard the sirens, the boys turned tail. This term alludes to an animal's turning its back in flight. [Mid-1500s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

turn tail

"The alien's would turn tail and head back to Mars."

From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026

Some people turn tail when they learn their potential romantic partner has a cat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026

Stick it out long enough, and they’ll turn on their own allies, start fighting among themselves, turn tail and run away.

From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2025

Finding themselves outnumbered, EWD 1355 and her co-conspirators turn tail and resume their migration, retreating southward from Luembe in linear bursts along the Luangwa River.

From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2022

Being a city slicker, he’d no doubt turn tail and beat it back to Terre Haute when we started bleeding out the first hog.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

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