pull back — English Dictionary

Verb

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pull, back.

   Examples

   Her nightgown was thin, and she felt chilly as she stepped across the hall, pulling back the curtain that shielded Gabriel's room.

   What's more, I pull back the sheets to take a quick but suspicious gander at Bunny, and she's wearing a pair of my briefs.

   More examples (2)

   An uncircumcised man should always take special precautions when bathing to pull back the foreskin and clean carefully around the glans.

   Typically, this meant that the teams were turning around two sets a week, with a train rolling into the depot on a Sunday for what Hinze describes as a "big strip-out". This would pull the carriages back almost to the bare bones.

2. To retreat.

   Examples

   Central African armed forces (FACA) troops were forced to pull back from the town and were planning an operation to retake it, the source said.

3. To pass (the ball) into a position further from the attacking goal line.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   December 1 2010, Paul Fletcher, BBC News, Ipswich 1-0 West Brom Jason Scotland should have scored after Tamas advanced purposefully down the right before pulling the ball back into the path of his team-mate, who shot straight at Myhill.

4. To score when the team is losing.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Feb 19 2007, Al-Jazeera, Stylish Sevilla pull level with faltering Barcelona Ronaldinho pulled back a goal for Barca in injury time with a classy free-kick, but it was clearly too little too late to prevent their third Liga defeat.

Verb

1. pull back or move away or backward

   Synonyms

   withdrawretreatpull awaydraw backrecederetiremove back

   Broader terms

   travelgomovelocomote

   Examples

   The enemy withdrew

   The limo pulled away from the curb

2. use a surgical instrument to hold open (the edges of a wound or an organ)

   Synonyms

   retractdraw back

   Broader terms

   pull

3. move to a rearward position; pull towards the back

   Broader terms

   pulldraw

   Examples

   Pull back your arms!

4. stretch back a bowstring (on an archer's bow)

   Synonyms

   draw

   Broader terms

   stretch

   Examples

   The archers were drawing their bows

5. make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity

   Synonyms

   retreatback outback awaycrawfishcrawfish outpull in one's hornswithdraw

   Broader terms

   discontinuestopceasegive upquitlay offbreakbreak off

   Examples

   We'll have to crawfish out from meeting with him

   He backed out of his earlier promise

   More examples (1)

   The aggressive investment company pulled in its horns