敲退堂鼓

qiāotuìtánggǔ ㄑㄧㄠ ㄊㄨㄟˋ ㄊㄤˊ ㄍㄨˇ

    • to back out
    • to give up halfway

Character by character

Saying俗语俗語

Idiom惯用语 · Rarely used now

Literally
beat the drum to end court
Meaning
To back out or give up halfway. Same as 打退堂鼓.

Sources