pull away

present singular third person pulls away · participle present pulling away · participle past pulled away · past pulled away

1. idiomaticTo move ahead.

   Schumacher is beginning to pull away from the rest of the racers.

   2 more examples

   San Francisco is a city built on hills that look, to the driver of an ailing vintage VW, like they go straight up endlessly. At the beginning of our trip my sother couldn't pull away from a light if the car was on the slightest backward incline.

   1980 February 16, Nancy Walker, “You Can Go Home Again”, in Gay Community News, volume 7, number 29, archived from the original on 05 Aug 2026, page 12

   As Bent pulled away to the far post, Agbonlahor opted to go it alone, motoring past Gary Caldwell before unleashing a shot into the roof of the net.

   2011 October 1, John Sinnott, “Aston Villa 2 - 0 Wigan”, in BBC Sport

2. transitiveTo move oneself further from a target, either literally or figuratively

   She pulled away from me when I approached her.

   3 more examples

   We used to be close, but Paul has been pulling away from me for years.

   My 7-year-old son pulled away from my lover when she picked him up. He was upset. He said he loves her but he's afraid because he knows when he gets home Daddy is going to ask him if he touched us and if he says 'yes' he's going to get a spanking.

   1983 August 13, Jil Clark, quoting Ronni Sanlo, “Lesbian's Activism 'Confusing' to Children”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 5, page 3

   […]her mother, Angela, was pulled away from the birthday party she was attending to answer the phone.

   2026 July 25, Nicholas Muhoro, “The Last Call of Jo-Anne Pedersen, the Girl Who Vanished From a Payphone”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 26 Jul 2026