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View synonyms for pull back

pull back

verb

  1. to return or be returned to a rearward position by pulling

    the army pulled back



noun

  1. the act of pulling back
  2. a device for restraining the motion of a mechanism, etc, or for returning it to its original position

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Idioms and Phrases

Retreat, as in The troops gradually pulled back . [Mid-1500s]

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Example Sentences

It is conceivable, if highly unlikely, that most Palestinians will try to pull back from the brink.

You go right straight into the inferno, and when you get older, you pull back.

A recent Wall Street Journal poll showed that a record number of Americans want to pull back from the world stage.

The Kremlin also announced it was starting to pull back an estimated 40,000 troops massed on the border.

Every time we pull back the curtain on the government voyeurs, they are forced to back down—and quickly.

I found I could pull back the bolts easily enough and unhook the great chains; but the door was locked, and the key was gone!

How he can scull ahead at such a speed is a mystery, and at once pull back when there is danger.

The manner of striking the bell was to pull back the log several feet, then let go the rope, holding the log after the rebound.

Once he had a sudden inspiration to pull back his control-stick.

I almost want to pull back my head to avoid having my nose taken off.

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gallimaufry

[gal-uh-maw-free ]

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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