pull back or move away or backward; "The enemy withdrew"; "The limo pulled away from the curb"[syn: withdraw ][ant: advance ]

use a surgical instrument to hold open (the edges of a wound or an organ)[syn: retract ]

move to a rearward position; pull towards the back; "Pull back your arms!"

stretch back a bowstring (on an archer's bow); "The archers were drawing their bows"

make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity; "We'll have to crawfish out from meeting with him"; "He backed out of his earlier promise"; "The aggressive investment company pulled in its horns"[syn: retreat ]

verb

pull