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English definition of “pull”


verb [T]
to stop providing something or take something away from someone or something: A major partner has threatened to pull all sponsorship. The first step is to pull the advertising for the defective product.pull sth from/out of sth Candies with more than .2 parts per million of lead would be pulled from stores. Elderly savers began to pull their money out of the accounts.
to attract interest from customers: If it doesn't pull big audiences, what's the point of the festival? A programme with a few star names is sure to pull the crowds.
pull sth/a rabbit out of the hat informal to do something unexpected that improves a difficult situation: If they want to survive the crisis, they'll need to pull something out of the hat pretty quickly. The company's in real trouble, and they don't seem to have any rabbits to pull out of the hat.
pull the plug on sth informal to stop an activity from continuing: If costs rise any higher, we'll have to pull the plug on the whole project.
pull strings to use your personal influence to make things happen: She may be retired, but she can still pull strings in the city. Don't you know anyone who can pull a few strings for us?
pull the strings to be the person who is in control of things: He's decided to put in the money himself, rather than let the investors pull the strings Don't ask me. I'm not the one who's pulling the strings.
pull your weight to work as hard as other people or as hard as expected and needed: Everyone is expected to pull their weight on this project.
(Definition of pull verb from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)
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