English verb: pull back | |||
1. | pull back (motion) pull back or move away or backward | ||
Samples | The enemy withdrew. The limo pulled away from the curb. | ||
Synonyms | draw back, move back, pull away, recede, retire, retreat, withdraw | ||
Pattern of use | Something ----s. Somebody ----s. Somebody ----s something. Somebody ----s PP | ||
Broader (hypernym) | go, locomote, move, travel | ||
Narrower (hyponym) | back down, back off, back up, fall back, retreat, retrograde | ||
Verb group | back away, back out, crawfish, crawfish out, pull back, pull in one's horns, retreat, withdraw | ||
Antonyms | advance, march on, move on, progress, go on, pass on | ||
2. | pull back (contact) use a surgical instrument to hold open (the edges of a wound or an organ) | ||
Synonyms | draw back, retract | ||
Pattern of use | Somebody ----s something | ||
Broader (hypernym) | pull | ||
3. | pull back (contact) move to a rearward position; pull towards the back | ||
Samples | Pull back your arms!. | ||
Pattern of use | Somebody ----s something. Somebody ----s somebody. Something ----s somebody. Something ----s something | ||
Broader (hypernym) | draw, force, pull | ||
Verb group | draw, pull back | ||
4. | pull back (contact) stretch back a bowstring (on an archer's bow) | ||
Samples | The archers were drawing their bows. | ||
Synonyms | draw | ||
Pattern of use | Somebody ----s something | ||
Broader (hypernym) | stretch | ||
Verb group | pull back | ||
5. | pull back (communication) make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity | ||
Samples | We'll have to crawfish out from meeting with him. He backed out of his earlier promise. The aggressive investment company pulled in its horns. | ||
Synonyms | back away, back out, crawfish, crawfish out, pull in one's horns, retreat, withdraw | ||
Pattern of use | Somebody ----s | ||
Verb group | draw back, move back, pull away, pull back, recede, retire, retreat, withdraw | ||