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beat a retreat

Idioms

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.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Quick to beat a retreat when confronted but willing to test new ground when the opportunity arises, Gibson’s Fetchit brilliantly embodies the crazy-as-a-fox interpretation of the character that Power advances.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 27, 2023

Along with outsize earnings-day stock losses for AT&T, U.S. equity benchmarks beat a retreat.

From Reuters • Apr. 21, 2023

The surge has led states and cities across the U.S. to beat a retreat, just weeks after it looked as if the country was going to see a close-to-normal summer.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 2, 2021

They will look, too, at Marshall's seriously unwise decision to move so far into no-man's land without the pace in his legs to beat a retreat.

From BBC • Jun. 14, 2021

Mrs. Pamflett, seeing her coming, beat a retreat, not desiring to meet the young girl just at that moment.

From Miser Farebrother, Volume I (of 3) A Novel by Farjeon, Benjamin Leopold

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