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
Other sellers are experimenting with price increases, cutting back on advertising or gradually importing merchandise to avoid drastic financial impacts of tariffs, instead of bowing out of Prime Day completely.
—
Arriana McLymore and Greg Bensinger, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2025
The Canadiens joined the above losers, falling 4-1 to the Capitals to bow out in five games, too.
—Chris Branch, New York Times, 1 May 2025
Vegas, which bowed out in the first round a year ago after winning the Stanley Cup in 2023, got a first-period goal from defenseman Alex Pietrangelo but has been frustrated by Minnesota’s defense for the last 120 minutes.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 25 Apr. 2025
There are 133 cardinals who are under 80 years old and eligible to vote, after two bowed out for health reasons, and the new pontiff will likely come from within their ranks.
—Colleen Barry and Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bow out
Arriana McLymore and Greg Bensinger, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2025
The Canadiens joined the above losers, falling 4-1 to the Capitals to bow out in five games, too.
—Chris Branch, New York Times, 1 May 2025
Vegas, which bowed out in the first round a year ago after winning the Stanley Cup in 2023, got a first-period goal from defenseman Alex Pietrangelo but has been frustrated by Minnesota’s defense for the last 120 minutes.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 25 Apr. 2025
There are 133 cardinals who are under 80 years old and eligible to vote, after two bowed out for health reasons, and the new pontiff will likely come from within their ranks.
—Colleen Barry and Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bow out
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bow out
Verb
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The University of San Diego and San Diego State both lost Thursday to drop into the losers’ brackets of their respective double-elimination conference baseball tournaments.—
Bill Center,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 May 2025
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Lu Chuan is also developing a road movie script about a couple traveling to the woman’s hometown for a wedding ceremony, but the woman has lost her memory.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
22 May 2025
Verb
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More: Stocks fall, Dow down 800 points as bonds tank amid tax debate.—
Riley Beggin,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
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So in the end, how could this not be Beltré, who fell just short of 3,000 hits and 500 homers on this side of the Y2K line, while redefining what elite third-base leatherwork looked like?—
Jayson Stark,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bow out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bow%20out. Accessed 25 May. 2025.
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