pull back

Definitions

1. 1

   Used other than figuratively or idiomatically

   Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pull, back.

   • Her nightgown was thin, and she felt chilly as she stepped across the hall, pulling back the curtain that shielded Gabriel's room.
   • What's more, I pull back the sheets to take a quick but suspicious gander at Bunny, and she's wearing a pair of my briefs.
   • An uncircumcised man should always take special precautions when bathing to pull back the foreskin and clean carefully around the glans.
2. 2

   To retreat.

   • Central African armed forces (FACA) troops were forced to pull back from the town and were planning an operation to retake it, the source said.
3. 3

   To pass (the ball) into a position further from the attacking goal line.

   • December 1 2010, Paul Fletcher, BBC News, Ipswich 1-0 West Brom Jason Scotland should have scored after Tamas advanced purposefully down the right before pulling the ball back into the path of his team-mate, who shot straight at Myhill.
4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      To score when the team is losing.

      • Feb 19 2007, Al-Jazeera, Stylish Sevilla pull level with faltering Barcelona Ronaldinho pulled back a goal for Barca in injury time with a classy free-kick, but it was clearly too little too late to prevent their third Liga defeat.

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