walk away

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walk away (third-person singular simple present walks away, present participle walking away, simple past and past participle walked away)

1. (idiomatic) To withdraw from a problematic situation.

   Company lawyers told him to walk away from the deal.

   • 2022 September 21, Chris Green tells Nick Brodrick, “It's absolutely my favourite train”, in RAIL, number 966, page 35:

     Green adds: "Luckily, nobody did walk away. Railtrack stayed with it, so did the government, so did the Strategic Rail Authority.

2. To free oneself from a debt such as a mortgage by abandoning the collateral to the lender. To make a strategic default.
3. (idiomatic) To survive a challenging or dangerous situation without harm.

   The football team walked away with a 1-0 victory.

4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see walk,‎ away.

   I took one last look at the house and walked away.

   • 2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3 (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, OCLC 962368035, PC, scene: Tuchanka:

     Shepard: Mordin, walk away.
     Mordin: Can't do that, Shepard.
     Shepard: I don't have a choice here. Walk away, or I will fire.

• walk away from
• walk away with

• walk-away, walkaway