From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishtake a back seattake a back seatto accept a less important position than someone or something else Finally, Bryant decided to take a back seat and let his son run the company. → back seat
Examples from the Corpus
take a back seat• He notes, however, that economic considerations are taking a back seat to budget negotiations.• It was also a year when investment bankers took a back seat.• That her family had taken a back seat in her life.• Mr Peters has now taken a back seat.• If you can't agree to disagree, then take a back seat and let others have their way on this occasion.• Women have often been forced to take a back seat in society.• But when they were introduced, everything upstairs had to take a back seat.• Many feel reluctant to take a back seat and allow their children to enjoy the special attractiveness of the teens and twenties.• And very generally, the interests of lenders in New York take a back seat to the interests of the corporate borrowers. 