pull back

Verb

pull back (third-person singular simple present pulls back, present participle pulling back, simple past and past participle pulled back)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pull, back.
   • Her nightgown was thin, and she felt chilly as she stepped across the hall, pulling back the curtain that shielded Gabriel's room.1994, Linda Winstead, Guardian Angel
   • What's more, I pull back the sheets to take a quick but suspicious gander at Bunny, and she's wearing a pair of my briefs.2002, Dennis J. Barton, Cola Wars
2. To retreat.
   • Central African armed forces (FACA) troops were forced to pull back from the town and were planning an operation to retake it, the source said.2010, Africasia, Birao is a garrison town near the border with Chad and Sudan
3. (transitive) To pass (the ball) into a position further from the attacking goal line.
   • December 1 2010, Paul Fletcher, BBC News, Ipswich 1-0 West Brom
     Jason Scotland should have scored after Tamas advanced purposefully down the right before pulling the ball back into the path of his team-mate, who shot straight at Myhill.
4. (transitive) To score when the team is losing.
   • Feb 19 2007, Al-Jazeera, Stylish Sevilla pull level with faltering Barcelona
     Ronaldinho pulled back a goal for Barca in injury time with a classy free-kick, but it was clearly too little too late to prevent their third Liga defeat.