bow out

verb

bowed out; bowing out; bows out

intransitive verb

: retire, withdraw

also : lose

bowed out in the first round of the tournament

Synonyms of bow out

• lose
• fall

Examples of bow out in a Sentence

quite embarrassingly, the top-seeded player bowed out in the first round of competition

Recent Examples on the Web

Troy Jackson, a veteran state politician and logger, secured the nomination Saturday at the party's state convention which was held weeks after the Democratic nominee Graham Platner bowed out due to mounting scandals. — Hannah Demissie, ABC News, 25 July 2026

One major suitor, UTA, had bowed out of the bidding process as of early June, an insider says. — Erik Hayden, HollywoodReporter, 24 July 2026

Variety understands Odom bowed out after the first act and was replaced by Manaia Glassey-Ohlson. — K.j. Yossman, Variety, 24 July 2026

Trailing by 13 points in the fourth quarter, Kansas’ alumni men’s basketball team looked as if it was destined to drop its second game in two nights to Kansas State and bow out of the TBT mighty early. — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 23 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1942, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bow out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout