beg off
verbEtymology beg + off
1
Idiomatic To obtain somebody's permission to skip or cancel an event that one has previously arranged with them.
- I wonder if I can beg off going to the meeting that day, since it will take me an extra two hours out of my way.
- That's an issue that I have not discussed with the legal people. I don't know what authority we have to prevent insurance companies from setting criteria for those people that they would insure. Whether that rests with us or with the Commissioner of Insurance, I don't know. I'm going to have to beg off that question.1985 December 7, Christine Guilfoy, Bailus Walker, “Quarantine Is No Way To Fight AIDS”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 21, page 8:
- Synonyms
- cry off