Meaning of cede the field | Babel Free

Definitions

1. To withdraw from a military confrontation; to yield control of a battlefield to one's opponent.
2. To withdraw from any confrontational or potentially confrontational situation; to avoid participating in a competition or contest.
   broadly, idiomatic

Examples

“In some smokestack industries—steel, machine tools and especially cars—the choice was to raise productivity and quality a lot or cede the field to the competition, as American companies did in consumer electronics.”

“State Senator McClintock appeared on CNN's Inside Politics on Tuesday and told me he had no intention of following Ueberroth's lead and ceding the field to Schwarzenegger: "I'm in this race right to the finish line."”

“And what will happen to Windows Phone? […] One can't imagine that Ballmer will call it a day and cede the field to Google and Apple.”

CEFR level