To abandon one’s position.
1854. “If it please your honor, I believe I will take water” (a common expression, signifying that the person using it would take a nonsuit).—J. G. Baldwin, ‘Flush Times,’ p. 275. (Italics in the original.)
1909. “To take backwater” is mentioned in ‘Dialect Notes,’ iii. 379, as a phrase used with similar purport in Alabama.
