phrasal verb

• 1(of a vehicle) come to a halt.

  ‘he pulled up outside the cabin’

  More example sentences

  • ‘If I remember correctly, it was the sound of the ice-cream van pulling up outside my house.’
  • ‘She was gobsmacked when the limo pulled up outside her home in Tattershall, Toothill.’
  • ‘When a police vehicle pulls up youngsters hide in the bushes.’
  • ‘Then I heard cars, and I turned to see a caravan of vehicles pulling up behind mine.’
  • ‘Sasha would pull up in whatever vehicle they were able to steal and they would load up as much as they could carry.’

  Synonyms

  stop, draw up, come to a halt, come to a stop, halt, come to a standstill, brake, park

  View synonyms

• 2pull something up, pull up somethingIncrease the altitude of an aircraft.

  ‘the pilot pulled the plane up in an attempt to avoid the building’

  More example sentences

  • ‘The airplane nicely recovered by smoothly pulling up to level flight.’
  • ‘Pull up in a high sharp wing-over and then dive on your enemy.’
  • ‘So low in fact, that the pilots had to pull up slightly to get the plane on the runway!’
  • ‘I used to fly over a city or town, buzz it and pull up doing a climbing slow roll.’
  • ‘The pilot scores a hit as he pulls up and heads around for another pass.’

• 3pull someone up, pull up someoneCause someone to stop or pause; check.

  ‘the shock of his words pulled her up short’

  More example sentences

  • ‘It was the fact that student was Aboriginal that pulled me up short.’
  • ‘He pulled her up short as he spotted a buggy approaching at a reckless speed.’
  • ‘Then the minutest discrepancy pulled him up short: a menacing shape, a suspicious change in the texture of the ground, an unusual sound or perhaps the movement of some prey.’
  • ‘We only moved on a few short steps before I stopped and pulled us up sharp.’
  • ‘But you are pulled up with a surprising jolt with a visit to the island's pretty capital, Victoria - known to the locals as Rabat.’

  1. 3.1British Reprimand someone.
     ‘she never failed to pull us up and tell us to stop’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Father would quiz us constantly and if we did not know the answers, we would be pulled up sharply.’
     • ‘I wish I had pulled her up on it, rather than simply accepting it.’
     • ‘It seems strange to pull someone up for being too polished (kinda like being stopped by a cop for being too good a driver).’
     • ‘Ten minutes into the second half Boyne were pulled up for crossing.’
     • ‘The honourable member for Grayndler was pulled up for using the term bigot.’
     Synonyms

     reprimand, rebuke, scold, chide, chastise, upbraid, berate, castigate, reprove, reproach, censure, take to task, tear into, admonish, lecture, lambast, read someone the Riot Act, haul over the coals

     View synonyms