disengage

Etymology

From Middle French désengager ; dis- + engage.

noun

1. (fencing) A circular movement of the blade that avoids the opponent's parry

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To release or loosen from something that binds, entangles, holds, or interlocks.
   The eight-cylinder Rolls-Royce diesel engines drive through "Twin Disc" torque converters up to a speed of some 46 m.p.h., when the drive automatically changes to direct coupling and the torque converter is disengaged. 1959 December, “Diesel multiple-units on the St. Pancras-Bedford service”, in Trains Illustrated, page 588
   Three weeks before the election in Iraq, conversation has started bubbling up in Congress, in the Pentagon and some days even in the White House about when and how American forces might begin to disengage in Iraq. 2005-01-10, David E. Sanger, Eric Schmitt, “Hot Topic: How U.S. Might Disengage in Iraq”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   The more established wisdom about trolls, at this point, is to disengage. 2015-02-14, Stephen Marche, “The Epidemic of Facelessness”, in The New York Times, →ISSN