pullback
noun
Simple meaning
The act of pulling back.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
puulbakSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpʊlbæk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
military
The act of pulling back (especially an orderly withdrawal of troops)
“The pullback is expected to be over 25,000 troops.”
finance
A reduction in the price of a financial instrument after reaching a peak
film
The act of drawing a camera back to broaden the visible scene.
A certain move in tap dance.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of pulling back (especially an orderly withdrawal of troops)
Used this way, pullback is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a military use: it belongs to service and operational language.
“The pullback is expected to be over 25,000 troops.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Military
- Historical writing
- News/reporting
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use pullback
- “The pullback is expected to be over 25,000 troops.”noun
- “The draperies were drawn to the sides by pullbacks.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.