fold one's tent

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fold one's tent (third-person singular simple present folds one's tent, present participle folding one's tent, simple past and past participle folded one's tent)

1. (idiomatic) To withdraw, especially in a discreet manner; to disengage; to quit.
   • 1844, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "The Day is Done" (proem to The Waif), lines 41-44,

     And the night shall be filled with music,

     And the cares that infest the day

     Shall fold their tents like the Arabs,

     And as silently steal away.

   • 1982 September 27, “No Mercy for the Sisters”, in Time:

     "I won't quietly fold my tent and go away," snapped Sister Catherine.

   • 2005 January 6, Terry Neal, “Talking Points Live”, in Washington Post, retrieved 10 August 2008:

     There are a good number of Democrats who are unhappy with John Kerry, thinking he folded his tent without a fight.

• chicken out, cut and run, stand down