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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.

See Examples For:

pull over

Police previously said the pursuit began shortly before 17:30 BST on Birmingham Road when officers attempted to stop the Audi, but the driver failed to pull over.

From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2026

There’s no safe place to pull over, no signs pointing toward escape, no assurance that their lives have a destination.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Normally busy streets became eerily quiet as police directed traffic to pull over and waved people into shelters.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

Mercedes asked him to pull over immediately after crossing the line, and he parked at Turn One, in an attempt to avoid damaging the engine.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

I spot a Dollar General on the side of the road and pull over because maybe they’ll be able to tell me where these lakes are.

From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven

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