Beat A Retreat

Also: Beat a hasty retreat

Meaning of Idiom ‘Beat a Retreat’

To beat a retreat means to quickly withdraw or reverse course; to quickly leave a place after entering it. ^{1 2}

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Usage

“The woman, after seeing her ex-husband at the restaurant, quickly beat a retreat.”

“My girlfriend took me to meet her father. He was so mean and grumpy I beat a retreat before things got worse.”

Origin

This phrase from the 1300s was originally military in origin, referring to how the beating of drums was used as a signal for retreating from a battle. It is rarely used today, and then only figuratively. 1

The slang idiom beat it is based on this expression.

More Idioms Starting with B

• Be in Someone’s Hair
• Beat a Dead Horse
• Be a 10, to
• Buck For Something
• Bottomless Pit

More Beat Idioms

• Beat a Dead Horse
• Beat the Traffic
• Heart Skips a Beat
• Beat the Bushes
• Beat Around the Bush

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References

1. Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
2. Ayto, John. Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.