From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) :
back away
v 1: make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity;
"We'll have to crawfish out from meeting with him"; "He
backed out of his earlier promise"; "The aggressive
investment company pulled in its horns" [syn: retreat,
pull back, back out, back away, crawfish, crawfish
out, pull in one's horns, withdraw]