weasel out

British  

verb

1. to go back on a commitment

2. to evade a responsibility, esp in a despicable manner

---

weasel out Idioms  

1. Back out of a situation or commitment, especially in a sneaky way. For example, I'd love to weasel out of serving on the board. This expression alludes to the stealthy hunting and nesting habits of the weasel, a small, slender-bodied predator. [Colloquial; mid-1900s]

---

Example Sentences

“But when universities do the same thing by trying to weasel out of their contracts, it’s equally corrosive.”

From The Wall Street Journal

I had planned everything I would say so that he couldn’t weasel out of it.

From Literature

The world’s wealthiest person originally struck the deal in the spring of 2022, realized within a few weeks that he had committed a grievous mistake, and then spent the summer and early fall trying to weasel out of the $44 billion acquisition.

From Slate

Pick something that you feel like you can't weasel out of, and then you just have to do it.

From Salon

Musk’s attempt to weasel out of his $44 billion deal has done predictably bad things to Twitter’s stock price, and the will-he-or-won’t-he of it all has tanked morale inside this giant, publicly traded firm.

From Slate

Related Words

• abolish
• abrogate
• annul
• cancel
• dismantle
• invalidate
• lift
• overturn
• quash
• renege
• repeal
• retract
• reverse
• revoke
• set aside
• void