PULL AWAY Synonyms: 39 Similar and Opposite Words

pull away

verb

Definition of pull away

as in to detach

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of pull away Hudson said that broader regional competition helps explain why Washington has struggled to force Sudan’s outside backers to pull away. — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 28 Sep. 2026 Cornbread is done when the edges start to pull away from the pan, the top is lightly browned, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean (though a few crumbs are okay). — Martha Stewart, 24 Sep. 2026 Neither team could pull away, and Atlanta struggled with turnovers in the second quarter, which rocked it off its rhythm. — Micahya Costen, AJC.com, 20 Sep. 2026 But that still doesn't explain why their incomes exploded, helping the top one percent pull away from everyone else. — Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 14 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for pull away

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pull away

Verb

However, the mural was detached and transferred to canvas in 1899 following the dispersal of the estate and then divided into eight fragments.

— Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 22 Oct. 2026
The robotic vehicle's initial drogue parachute deployed successfully, but its main parafoil detached during deployment, leaving the prototype unable to slow its descent before crashing into the ground, according to ESA officials.

— Josh Dinner, Space.com, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of detach

Verb

During a flight from Moscow to Hong Kong in March, 1994, the pilot allowed his teen-age son to sit at the controls of the plane, and the boy unknowingly disengaged the autopilot.

— Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
With the throne disengaged from governance, petitions and reports from officials piled up unread, crucial state posts went unfilled, and the imperial bureaucracy splintered amid poisonous factional infighting.

— Carl Minzner, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of disengage

Verb

Jaros and Rauh calculate that the state will lose money so long as 24 percent of the tax base flees, a condition that’s already been met.

— Ramesh Ponnuru, Washington Post, 27 Oct. 2026
Some senators fled while others braced themselves inside the Senate chamber as Officer Eugene Goodman tried to reason with the mob, and Senate staffers barricaded themselves in offices, hiding.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of flee

Verb

Pawlikowski’s mother and father, also named Zula and Wiktor, whose unmanageable love had kept them tangled and disentangled for decades, took their own lives in 1989, as the Cold War that had cast its chill upon their time was beginning to thaw.

— Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
His remarks escalated a confrontation over New York’s efforts to disentangle local police from federal immigration enforcement.

— María Luisa Paúl, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of disentangle

Verb

Musk’s wealth faces a countdown Musk also expects his personal fortune to shrink substantially across future generations.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 20 Oct. 2026
Lake Mead and Lake Powell are the visible faces of the Southwest’s critical water problem, as the Colorado River — which supplies water to nearly 40 million people — shrinks due to a combination of climate change and human demand.

— Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of shrink

Verb

During the Wildcats' first attempt on the two-point conversion, a Kentucky player appeared to flinch, and while a flag was thrown, it was negated by a timeout called by the Wildcats.

— Mark Harris OutKick, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026
While Levi’s had been making a lot of noise about being a DTC-first retailer, in an interview with WWD, Gass emphasized the importance of a broad base and didn’t flinch away from what went wrong in DTC.

— Evan Clark, Footwear News, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of flinch

Verb

Before Charley could climb down, the big deer stepped out of the brush 30 yards away, stood broadside, blew a couple of times, and ran back toward the river.

— Al Dawson, Outdoor Life, 15 Oct. 2026
After the vehicle came to rest, the rescue team helped twenty volunteers climb down and position themselves inside the bus.

— Peter Hessler, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of climb down

Browse Nearby Words

pull a face

pull away

pullback

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Pull away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pull%20away. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of pull away

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

milieu

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes