take a back seat

/tˈeɪk ɐ bˈaksiːt/

/tˈeɪk ɐ bˈæksiːt/

to take a back seat

to be placed in a less important or weaker position compared to that of someone else

to stop doing something, particularly when there is no hope of success

Examples

1. And profit was to take a back seat to the overall well-being of the community and all of its individual members.

2. I’ll be happy to take a back seat when Robin takes over.

3. I took a back seat during the presentation because I knew you could handle it.

4. Unfortunately, I had the flu last week, so everything else around the house had to take a back seat.