pull in one's horns

Verb

1.

pull in one's horns - 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" Synonyms: back away, crawfish, crawfish out, back out, retreat, pull back, withdraw

back away, back out, crawfish, crawfish out, draw back, move back, pull away, pull back, recede, retire, retreat, withdraw