to "pull back," v.i.

Sat Mar 3 03:24:36 UTC 2007

"Esp. _Mil._, to withdraw (from a position)."

  Not exactly in OED; could go under _pull_, v., 9e, but so common for so long (WW I?) that it should appear somewhere, if only as a collocational ex. (It may be so common as to be defined along with the other "pull backs.")

  1968 in Bill Frey _Letters from 'Nam_ (N.Y.: Warner Books, 1992) 109: Finally, we were told to try to pull back.

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