as in to lose
to undergo defeat
quite embarrassingly, the top-seeded player bowed out in the first round of competition
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Recent Examples of bow out
The actress bowed out of both parts due to scheduling conflicts.
—
Ew Staff, EW.com, 18 May 2025
That won’t be the case this year, with Sovereignty bowing out of this year’s Preakness for fear of too tight a turnaround time.
—Sam Cohn, Baltimore Sun, 17 May 2025
The last five defending champs all bowed out before the conference finals – a streak Boston is in danger of extending.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 9 May 2025
The Kraken join the negative club despite winning a round in 2023 — their only playoff run in history so far — and stretching the Stars to seven games before bowing out in Round 2.
—Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bow out
Ew Staff, EW.com, 18 May 2025
That won’t be the case this year, with Sovereignty bowing out of this year’s Preakness for fear of too tight a turnaround time.
—Sam Cohn, Baltimore Sun, 17 May 2025
The last five defending champs all bowed out before the conference finals – a streak Boston is in danger of extending.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 9 May 2025
The Kraken join the negative club despite winning a round in 2023 — their only playoff run in history so far — and stretching the Stars to seven games before bowing out in Round 2.
—Sean McIndoe, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bow out
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bow out
Verb
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Water depth - The deeper the water, the sooner a vehicle loses traction on the road.—
STAR-TELEGRAM WEATHER BOT,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
4 June 2025
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Rosado, 52, is an urban planner and former North Bay Village manager who previously ran for the District 4 seat in 2017, losing to Reyes.—
Tess Riski,
Miami Herald,
4 June 2025
Verb
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In May 2022 — three years ago — Caltrans estimated that the project would cost $433 million, meaning that in addition to falling behind schedule, the cost has gone up by about $96 million in that time.—
Ariane Lange,
Sacbee.com,
3 June 2025
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In 2023, the number of fatalities fell slightly, to six fatal boating incidents resulting in seven deaths, according to state data.—
Stephen Underwood,
Hartford Courant,
3 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bow out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bow%20out. Accessed 15 Jun. 2025.
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