Okuzeka
Business English vocabulary · Negotiations

Walk away

Meaning in business english, with examples

/ˌwɔːk əˈweɪ/phrasal verbCommon term

In business english, walk away means: To end a negotiation or leave a deal because the terms on offer are not acceptable to you.

In Turkish: masadan kalkmak, anlaşmadan çekilmek, vazgeçmek

How it is used

A key idea in negotiation planning: know your 'walk-away point', the worst terms you will accept. 'We're prepared to walk away', 'They walked away from the deal'. Being ready to walk away gives you more power.

Example sentences

  1. If they won't move on price, we should be ready to walk away.

  2. The buyer walked away from the deal at the last minute.

Common collocations

  • walk away from the deal
  • walk away from the table
  • walk-away point
  • be prepared to walk away
  • deal-breakerA single issue or condition so important that, if it is not accepted, one side will refuse the whole deal.
  • bottom lineThe most important fact or the final position in a discussion; also a company's profit or loss, shown on the last line of its income statement.
  • counterofferA new offer made in reply to an offer you have received, usually with a different price or different conditions.
  • concessionSomething that one side agrees to give up or allow during a negotiation in order to reach an agreement.

More terms: Negotiations

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: