to "pull back," v.i.

[Jesse Sheidlower]

On Fri, Mar 02, 2007 at 07:24:36PM -0800, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> "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.

OED3 will be adding this sense when the relevant range appears.
Our earliest example is from 1917.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

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