cede the field

Verb

cede the field (third-person singular simple present cedes the field, present participle ceding the field, simple past and past participle ceded the field)

1. To withdraw from a military confrontation; to yield control of a battlefield to one's opponent.

   Synonyms:

   give ground

2. (broadly, idiomatic) To withdraw from any confrontational or potentially confrontational situation; to avoid participating in a competition or contest.
   • In some smokestack industries—steel, machine tools and especially cars—the choice was to raise productivity and quality a lot or cede the field to the competition, as American companies did in consumer electronics.1994 February 27, Sylvia Nasar, “The American Economy, Back on Top”, in New York Times, retrieved 08 Aug 2019
   • State Senator McClintock appeared on CNN's Inside Politics on Tuesday and told me he had no intention of following Ueberroth's lead and ceding the field to Schwarzenegger: "I'm in this race right to the finish line."2003 September 10, Judy Woodruff, McClintock: "I'm in this race right to the finish line", CNN, retrieved 23 Sep 2019