turn one's back

English

turn one's back (third-person singular simple present turns one's back, present participle turning one's back, simple past and past participle turned one's back)

(intransitive) To cease paying attention.
As soon as I turned my back, he started writing on the wall.
(intransitive, figuratively) To forsake, to abandon; to ignore. [with on]
He got off to a strong start, only to turn his back on the project two months later.
- 1985, Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley, Chris Hughes, “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, in Songs from the Big Chair‎^[1], performed by Tears for Fears:
  Acting on your best behaviour
  Turn your back on Mother Nature
  Everybody wants to rule the world
- 2024 October 30, Andy Comfort, “Can the Royal Mail trains keep on running?”, in RAIL, number 1021, page 62:
  In response to questions from RailReview, Royal Mail denied turning its back on rail transport completely, stressing it will continue to use rail, keeping the amount of mail moved by train under regular review.
(intransitive) To turn away, as when fleeing or in contempt.

to forsake, to abandon; to ignore