pull the plug

Verb

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

1. (intransitive) To unplug or cut power to a machine.
   • Shut off the machine and pull the plug.
   • He put an end to the loud music by pulling the plug.
2. (informal, intransitive) To turn off life support.
3. (informal, intransitive) To commit suicide.
   • Cathy was eleven when she pulled the plug / On twenty-six reds and a bottle of wine1981, The Jim Carroll Band, People Who Died
   • "The Times said it was suicide," said Knight.
     "He burned himself out. There wasn't anything left." The Dean leveled his eyes at Reid, searching for more, wanting more, not wanting more, and Reid continued, "So he pulled the plug."
     "Pulled the plug? The paper said it was cyanide," his voice filled...2007, Lee Stockdale, Murder of Law, page 118
4. (informal, intransitive) To cease to support; to halt.
   • It's a wonder the director didn't pull the plug on that project months ago.
   • "We have a deal that stopped me pulling the plug on services. But only just. I was hours from having to stop the Underground and buses from running in this, the greatest city on Earth. How insane is that? How could that even be allowed to happen?
     "I waited until five to midnight on the day when I...2020 July 15, Mike Brown talks to Paul Clifton, “Leading London's "hidden heroes"”, in Rail, pages 42–43
5. (informal, intransitive) To cease production or publication.