5. PHRASE : V inflects
If you beat a retreat, you leave a place quickly in order to avoid an embarrassing or dangerous situation.
- Cockburn decided it was time to beat a hasty retreat.
.... Cobuild
to quickly leave :
- When the cold grows overwhelming, visitors can beat a retreat to Joe Mulligan's warm bar and restaurant.
Etymology: based on the military meaning of beat a retreat (to drum a signal to soldiers that they are to move back from a fight, usually one they have lost)
... Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms,
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