Pull out means to take something out: a phone from your pocket, a tooth, a weed. The second meaning is to withdraw, to stop taking part: pull out of a deal, a competition, a project.
Want to use pull out in conversation?
Write a sentence — we'll show the mistakes right away and suggest how to say it more naturally.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
pull out + noun; pull + it/them + out; pull out of + competition/deal/project
- He pulled out his phone and showed us the photos from the trip.
- The dentist says she'll have to pull my wisdom tooth out next week.
- Two sponsors pulled out of the festival a week before it started.
What changed
First versionThe company pulled out from the deal at the last minute.
RevisionThe company pulled out of the deal at the last minute.
From can seem like the natural word for leaving something, but after pull out you need of: pull out of the deal. A native speaker wouldn't say from here. Out shows movement outwards, and of names what you're leaving.
Pull out means to withdraw yourself, by choice or because of an injury. To be eliminated after losing is go out: England went out in the quarter-finals. So She pulled out of the final means she didn't play the match, not that she lost it.
Your turn
Two days before the final, the champion hurt her back and had to ___ of the match.
Show the answer
pull out — The champion got injured and withdrew from the final herself: pull out. Go out is used for someone eliminated after losing, and she didn't even play.
Describe a time when you or someone you know backed out of a plan at the last minute. Say what the plan was and why.
My friend pulled out of our trip to Prague the night before because her flat flooded.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.