pull out
BothSense-dependent: some meanings take an object and split, others take none. Check the sense you mean.
How to say it
Stress the particle, not the verb: pull OUT. Saying “PULL out” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.
Link across the gap. The final /l/ of “pull” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “pull out” is said “pu-lout”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.
Verb vs noun
As a noun the stress flips to the front: the verb is pull OUT, the noun is PULLOUT. Same two words, different beat — “to pull OUT” is the action, “a pullout” is the thing. Getting this backwards makes the sentence land oddly even when every sound is right.
2 meanings
- 1
To withdraw from an agreement or activity.
- “The investor pulled out two weeks before signing.”
- “They pulled out of the tournament at the last minute.”
Similar: withdraw, back out
- 2
To drive out of a parking space or into traffic.
- “He pulled out without looking.”