turning tail

Verb

turn tail (third-person singular simple present turns tail, present participle turning tail, simple past and past participle turned tail)

1. (idiomatic) To turn away from someone or something, in preparation for running away; to reverse direction; to leave or flee.
   • A box-lobby lion or a Regent-street animal . . . will never bite, and, if you offer to attack him manfully, will fairly turn tail and sneak off.1838, Charles Dickens, “Some Particulars Concerning A Lion”, in Mudfog and Other Sketches

   Synonyms:

   turn on one's heel