From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbow out phrasal verb1 STOP DOING somethingto stop taking part in an activity, job etc, especially one that you have been doing for a long time of Reeves thinks it is time for him to bow out of politics.2 DOto not do something that you have promised or agreed to do of You’re not trying to bow out of this, are you? → bow→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
bow of• But another clone wannabe bowed out of the game Tuesday.bow of• But another clone wannabe bowed out of the game Tuesday.