From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsit something ↔ out phrasal verb1 WAITto stay where you are and do nothing until something finishes, especially something boring or unpleasant She had two weeks to sit it out while she waited to hear if she had got the job. She was prepared to sit out the years of Jack’s jail sentence.2 to not take part in something, especially a game or dance, when you usually take part Johnson sat out the game with a shoulder injury. → sit→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
sit out• Fred Ward and Michael Gross reprise their roles, but Kevin Bacon sits this one out.• Mark Spitz decided to sit this one out.• For a moment, we both sat and stared out at the ocean.• The Dean's annual sit - out, for which he will be best remembered, this year raised a staggering £400,000.• Dean Shearer had inherited the sit - out from his predecessor Dean Samuel Crooks and took it to new heights.• Now, however, they sat looking out of the window, evidently awaiting my return.• A rabbit which up to that time may have been perfectly content to sit it out suddenly has more grounds for fear.• It wasn't a good place to sit and sort out your future.sit it out• Either I could sit it out and hope that no one would be caught short.• He would have to sit it out, but he would live.• No, better far sit it out here and shame the devil.• Nothing can alleviate a sky so taut, but sit it out - it will break for sure into its reconciling colour.• They preferred to sit it out on the Fosse Way.• Only Tony Hopkins sits it out, smiling to himself.• A rabbit which up to that time may have been perfectly content to sit it out suddenly has more grounds for fear.• She then had two painful weeks to sit it out while she waited to hear if she had got the job. 