Cut and run
"To leave quickly, especially to escape a difficult situation."
Another literal piece of sailing-ship practice. A ship's anchor was normally hauled up slowly, but in an emergency, an approaching enemy vessel, a sudden storm, there wasn't always time. Crews would simply cut the anchor cable and sail away immediately, sacrificing the anchor to make a fast escape. The phrase carried that same sense of abandoning something valuable to get away quickly into general English.
Sources: Documented nautical usage from the 17th and 18th centuries, cited in the Oxford English Dictionary's entry for 'cut, v.'
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