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Synonyms

pull back

British  

verb

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

    the army pulled back
"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

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

"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 back Idioms  

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

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.

If you pull back the curtain on reader trends, you start to notice certain foods drifting in and out of seasonal favor.

From Salon • Apr. 26, 2026

He is under contract with LIV Golf, which is facing news that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is preparing to pull back funding.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026

Wall Street started to pull back from the space amid concerns that AI could one day replace critical software functions, especially as AI start-up Anthropic has continued to launch impressive updates to its models.

From Barron's • Apr. 17, 2026

Snap is the latest tech company to cite efficiency gains from AI as it cuts jobs and pull back on hiring.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2026

Just as he started to pull back to tell the others that, Rocky yanked his brother and sister away from the group.

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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.