打退堂鼓

1. • lit. to beat the return drum (idiom)
2. • fig. to give up
3. • to turn tail

Character by character

• 打(dǎ)a semantically light, transitive verb that is combined with various grammatical objects to form compound verbs and verb-object phrases with a diverse range of meanings
• 退(tuì)retreat
• 堂(táng)hall
• 鼓(gǔ)drum