PULLING AWAY Synonyms: 39 Similar and Opposite Words

pulling away

verb

present participle of pull away

as in detaching

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pulling away

Verb

Woltanski suggests detaching the voucher from the state funding formula entirely.

— Austin Horn, Miami Herald, 9 Oct. 2026
There have been four reports of eyes detaching from the teething toy, but no injuries have been reported, federal officials said.

— Julia Hawkins, Sacbee.com, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of detaching

Verb

Nothing about that reaches the employee who is steadily gaining weight, quietly disengaging from exercise or managing chronic stress without any support.

— Neepa Patel, Forbes.com, 24 Sep. 2026
Vicki disengaging is par for the course at this point — and speaking of par, the women arrive at the country club to practice their golf swings and deliver enough material to fill an episode.

— Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of disengaging

Verb

Almost all of the birds on Palmyra Atoll rely on the ocean, flying out to sea daily to feed on fish or squid, bringing some back for their young.

— Lauren Sommer, NPR, 13 Oct. 2026
Six Flags Great Adventure via Facebook While riding Nitro, riders can see the Philadelphia skyline for a glimpse before flying down a 215-foot drop.

— Nikki DeMentri, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of flying

Verb

Cutting Iran off completely from the UAE could deal a serious blow to the Islamic Republic’s economy — but experts say disentangling the pair’s commercial ties could prove difficult.

— semafor.com, semafor.com, 20 Aug. 2026
New characters and backstory details are dropped in before existing loose ends are tied up, resulting in unclear motivations and convoluted layers of subplot that, ultimately, do not prove relevant enough to have been worth disentangling.

— Jared Kaufman, Twin Cities, 9 Aug. 2026

Definition of disentangling

Verb

Raney Aronson-Rath A chronicle of one Syrian daughter’s journey in fleeing war and seeking refuge in Germany, and how over ten years, new pressures and opportunities present themselves.

— Matthew Carey, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026
Police say the father of one of the children confronted the adult victim and shot her before fleeing the scene.

— DeJanay Booth-Singleton, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of fleeing

Verb

But bottom line here, George, the White House shows no signs of backing down.

— ABC News, ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026
Sheeran himself has faced significant backlash over the move, with critics blasting him for backing down, not supporting Macklemore and seeking to avoid taking sides on the matter.

— Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of backing down

Verb

Governments are tapping their emergency oil faster than ever, and the room to keep doing so is shrinking.

— Heather Occhino, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2026
The top prize there was awarded to The Lake, directed by Abby Ellis, a film exploring the environmental catastrophe posed by the rapidly shrinking Great Salt Lake in Utah.

— Matthew Carey, Deadline, 11 Oct. 2026

Definition of shrinking

Verb

In my experience, automation becomes commercially viable not when failures disappear, but when the system is built to handle them without flinching.

— Shivansh Inamdar, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026
Amy Adams’ Anna Bowden — who has a complicated history with Max as his former lawyer — peeks through the curtain to spy on him, flinching as Max insists on snapping his own broken finger into place.

— Benjamin VanHoose, PEOPLE, 6 July 2026

Definition of flinching

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

pulling a face

pulling away

pulling down

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“Pulling away.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pulling%20away. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of pulling away

verb

Example Sentences

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