to pull away
- phrasal verb
- /pʊl əˈweɪ/
- Have fun! I got into my car and pulled away, waving through the window.
- begin to pull away
But worst of all, we may get pulled away from our authentic selves.
- But worst of all, we may get pulled away from our authentic selves.
- What kicks in when they pull away is a fight instinct.
- I feel, I feel you kind of pulling away from me.
- Now in this cycle of love bombing, devaluing, oh, if I pull away, they may come back.
- So let's let's talk about this whole, you know, him pulling away when things seem to be going great.
- Today's topic is when she pulls away.
- And it was simultane to when he was pulling away.
- And I've been pulled away from that connection for all different reasons.
- And she as we got into the car and we're pulling away, she said, Mama, these are my people.
- So I went and grabbed him by the arm and he pulled away.
- And he was saying that to me, saying those things to me, and I was pulling away.
Examples
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You pulled away from me in there.
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After the argument, she decided to pull away from the conversation and focus on herself.
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OK, So she surprised me and she pulled away really quickly.
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All I knew was she was pulling away.
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I'm not gonna let you pull away.
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Well, I don't know what to tell you about it since I tried to kiss you and you pulled away.
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As the train begins to pull away, with me on it, the boy makes a bravado leap.
Academic text (2000) -
There was an uneasy silence in the car as we pulled away from Seventy-Seven Lower Lane.
Fiction book (1991) -
As the car started to pull away, I waved goodbye to my friends at the station.
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When he felt overwhelmed, he chose to pull away from the situation to regain his composure.
Synonyms
To go away from a place, person, or group
Leave a place or situation
Leave a place quickly or suddenly
To leave a place or person and go somewhere else
Leave a person, place, or situation without taking part anymore
Keep a distance from people or things you want to avoid
To stop taking part in a place or activity
Move away from someone, or stop taking part in something
To step away to an earlier place
To move back from a place or plan to avoid danger
To stop being involved in an activity or agreement
To move yourself and things backward from a place, person, or situation
To stop being part of or connected to something
Leave an activity or agreement you had joined
To make yourself less involved with someone or something
Keep away from someone or something to show no connection
Stop supporting or taking part in a plan because you feel unsure
Move away from people to a quieter place
To stop other people from getting close to you emotionally
To move back or become less strong
To end a connection with a person, group, or idea
To slowly lose contact and closeness with someone
Leave a place or start a journey
To move back from a place or activity to avoid danger and trouble
To escape suddenly from control, capture, or a group
To move backwards away from something because of fear or surprise
To stop being involved with a person, group, or idea
To leave a group and move away in a different direction
Leave a place quickly because you are in a hurry
To move back from a place or position, often to a safer spot
To move quietly to the side and away so people do not notice you
Antonyms
How Far
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to start moving away / create distance' is directly and compositionaly derived from 'pull' (to move or draw) combined with 'away' (from a place), following the common motion verb + particle pattern. This is a transparent, cross-linguistically common construction, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would very likely infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Pull away comes from the simple image of one thing being pulled so it moves away from others, like a car that speeds forward and leaves the rest behind. So, it means 'to start moving away' or 'to create distance' from a place, group, or person.