1) Decide not to participate 2) Decline 3) Exit 4) Gracefully quit 5) Remove oneself from the arena 6) Resign 7) Retire 8) Retire gracefully 9) Withdraw Found on https://www.crosswordclues.com/clue/bow-out
verb retire gracefully; `He bowed out when he realized he could no longer handle the demands of the chairmanship` Found on https://www.encyclo.co.uk/local/20974