pull over

British

verb

(intr) (of a motor vehicle, driver, etc) to halt at the side of the road
(tr) (of a police officer) to instruct (the driver of a motor vehicle) to halt at the side of the road

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

pull over Idioms

Bring a vehicle to the side of the road; also, instruct a motorist to stop. For example, We pulled over to ask a passerby for directions, or The state trooper pulled the speeding motorist over. [First half of 1900s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It's not like you can drive your car down the road, get a flat tire, pull over, fix it and keep going.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

But these kinds of trips still annoy my less-tech-enthusiastic spouse, because she can’t just pull over at the next exit to recharge.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

Should Dante get anxious or sick, you can pull over.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 20, 2026

This is why, for example, an officer may pull over a motorist whose car has swerved on the highway.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 24, 2025

Occasionally she’d pull over to the side of the road and motion for me to pull up beside her so she could tell me various ideas she’d come up with as she drove.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

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