cede the field

Definitions

1. 1

   To withdraw from a military confrontation

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

2. 2

   To withdraw from any confrontational or potentially confrontational situation

   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.
   • 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."
   • And what will happen to Windows Phone? […] One can't imagine that Ballmer will call it a day and cede the field to Google and Apple.

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