take a back seat

English

Etymology

From take a seat and back seat.

Verb

take a back seat

  1. (idiomatic) To adopt a position of noninvolvement.
    The new chairman is happy to take a back seat when it comes to day-to-day operations.
  2. (idiomatic) To be second to someone or something; to be less important or have a lower priority.
    • 2017 January 14, “Thailand's new king rejects the army's proposed constitution”, in The Economist‎:
      The bluntness of King Vajiralongkorn's intervention—and the determination it reveals to resist relatively small checks on royal power—is both a snub to the junta and a worry for democrats, some of whom had dared hope that the new king might be happy to take a back seat in public life.
    "But as with most kids, politics took a backseat to daily life." — My Life by Bill Clinton

See also
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