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Idioms: pull down, pull back, pull away, pull ahead, pull together
Pull down
– to break in pieces and destroy (building)
- – They pulled down the abandoned factories to build a new hospital
Pull back
– to leave an advanced position to go back (army)
- – in the chess game Smith pulled his Queen back to defend his King
- – the army will have to pull back because they are too exposed to the enemy’s tanks
pull away
1 free oneself, escape
- – the man was able to pull away from the attacker who was holding him
2 start to move off
- – I got onto the train just as it was pulling away from the station
pull ahead
– get in front by moving faster
- – on the highway the Ferrari easily pulled ahead of the Opel Astra
- – on the penultimate length Michael Phelps pulled ahead of the other swimmers
pull together
1 work to achieve a common effort
- – all the students pulled together to raise money for a boy who needed an operation
2 control your feelings
- – don’t get so excited! Pull yourself together or we’ll have an accident
- – stop acting like a baby! Pull yourself together!
3 cause improvement through proper organization
- – the business coach succeeded in pulling the department together to work as a team