PULL BACK


Meaning of PULL BACK in English

1.

If someone pulls back from an action, they decide not to do it or continue with it, because it could have bad consequences.

They will plead with him to ~ from confrontation...

The British government threatened to make public its disquiet but then pulled back.

PHRASAL VERB: V P from n, V P

2.

If troops ~ or if their leader pulls them back, they go some or all of the way back to their own territory.

They were asked to ~ from their artillery positions around the city...

He pulled back forces from Mongolia, and he withdrew from Afghanistan.

PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P n (not pron), also V n P

Collins COBUILD.      Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) .