[syn: retreat, pull back, back out, back away, crawfish, crawfish out, pull in one's horns, withdraw]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
pull back
v 1: pull back or move away or backward; "The enemy withdrew";
"The limo pulled away from the curb" [syn: withdraw,
retreat, pull away, draw back, recede, pull back,
retire, move back] [ant: advance, go on, march
on, move on, pass on, progress]
2: use a surgical instrument to hold open (the edges of a wound
or an organ) [syn: retract, pull back, draw back]
3: move to a rearward position; pull towards the back; "Pull
back your arms!"
4: stretch back a bowstring (on an archer's bow); "The archers
were drawing their bows" [syn: pull back, draw]
5: 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, pull back, back
out, back away, crawfish, crawfish out, pull in one's
horns, withdraw]