as in fulfilling
to carry through (as a process) to completion
the rebel forces pulled off a surprisingly successful offensive against the better equipped government troops
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Recent Examples of pulling off
Cuba is currently pulling off one of the fastest solar revolutions on the planet, with help from China, according to data from the energy think tank Ember.
—
Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 13 May 2026
Boston is still favored to advance and in Game 3 on the road, but the 76ers will have hope of pulling off the upset of the Eastern Conference favorites.
—Dan Santaromita, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2026
Except last season, when Christian McCaffrey started all 19 games and led the NFL in touches while almost pulling off the 1,000-yard rushing/receiving double-double.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 23 Apr. 2026
On a recent Thursday morning, cars whizzed over the bridge with several vehicles pulling off on the side of the road to visit Long's doughnut line.
—Alysa Guffey, IndyStar, 1 Apr. 2026
In California, the law prevents incumbents from pulling off the kind of underhanded stunt that Garcia and Daines managed.
—Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
Down 23 points at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday, Brooklyn still found a way to beat the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons, pulling off the fifth-largest comeback in franchise history and avoiding a season sweep.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 11 Mar. 2026
There's nothing the couple loves more than pulling off the road to enjoy a local diner or small clam shack.
—Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 26 Feb. 2026
What’s more American than pulling off a victory after a kick in the teeth?
—Chicago Tribune, Twin Cities, 25 Feb. 2026
Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 13 May 2026
Boston is still favored to advance and in Game 3 on the road, but the 76ers will have hope of pulling off the upset of the Eastern Conference favorites.
—Dan Santaromita, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2026
Except last season, when Christian McCaffrey started all 19 games and led the NFL in touches while almost pulling off the 1,000-yard rushing/receiving double-double.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 23 Apr. 2026
On a recent Thursday morning, cars whizzed over the bridge with several vehicles pulling off on the side of the road to visit Long's doughnut line.
—Alysa Guffey, IndyStar, 1 Apr. 2026
In California, the law prevents incumbents from pulling off the kind of underhanded stunt that Garcia and Daines managed.
—Los Angeles Times, 18 Mar. 2026
Down 23 points at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday, Brooklyn still found a way to beat the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons, pulling off the fifth-largest comeback in franchise history and avoiding a season sweep.
—C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 11 Mar. 2026
There's nothing the couple loves more than pulling off the road to enjoy a local diner or small clam shack.
—Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 26 Feb. 2026
What’s more American than pulling off a victory after a kick in the teeth?
—Chicago Tribune, Twin Cities, 25 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pulling off
Verb
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All of these rely entirely on Starship fulfilling its promise of rapid, low-cost, reusable launch.—
Eric Berger,
ArsTechnica,
22 May 2026
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But there is a difference between building a fulfilling career and developing one designed to impress strangers.—
Cheryl Robinson,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2026
Verb
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This process flags up under-performing functions from posture and heart health to fat-burning efficiency and cognition levels.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
23 May 2026
-
Your own best-performing videos already contain the hooks that work for your audience.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2026
Verb
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But as agents begin to act by booking flights, executing trades, signing contracts and deploying infrastructure, every one of those transactions requires trust.—
Kaustubh Phatak,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
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Its core capability is a whole-body imitation learning system that enables it to learn tasks by observing human demonstrations and executing them independently with high precision.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
28 May 2026
Verb
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But a careful reading of the S-1 reveals substantial barriers in the path to achieving the sorcerous performance required to reward shareholders who flock to the most anticipated debut ever seen.—
Shawn Tully,
Fortune,
23 May 2026
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Molina’s Sam is at the center of achieving all of this.—
Andrew McGowan,
Variety,
23 May 2026
Verb
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The consumer goods giant is well on its way to accomplishing that goal, with dozens of projects across 17 countries covering 254,000 hectares as of 2025.—
Mindy Lubber,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2026
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In the e-bike arena, licensing for the drivers should be under the state DMV which has the capability of accomplishing that critical task.—
Michael Miller,
New York Daily News,
22 May 2026
Verb
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The environmental lawsuit is the latest attempt to prevent the governor from carrying out his unpopular return-to-office order.—
William Melhado,
Sacbee.com,
28 May 2026
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Some of these digital pamphlets provide terse, functional updates while others act as the successors to bygone alt-weeklies, covering cultural happenings and carrying out local-interest investigations.—
Kyle Chayka,
New Yorker,
14 May 2026
Verb
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There does not even seem to be a process for doing so.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
24 May 2026
-
The Office lost Steve Carell after season seven and kept going for two more, sustained by an ensemble that had been steadily doing the heavy lifting all along.—
Benjamin Svetkey,
HollywoodReporter,
23 May 2026
Verb
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That being said, Breslow confirmed that the Red Sox have explored making external additions to help the team.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
30 May 2026
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That has marquee potential with Coloradan star Sophia Wilson making her first club appearance in Denver.—
Braidon Nourse,
Denver Post,
30 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pulling off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pulling%20off. Accessed 31 May. 2026.
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