Retire gracefully (3,3)
I believe the answer is:
bow out
'retire gracefully' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is the entire clue.
(Other definitions for bow out that I've seen before include "What a string player often gets" , "Exit; retire" , "Retire gracefully" , "Retire from the scene with bodily gesture of acknowledgement?" , "Withdraw from a situation" .)