| 释义 |
pull in one's horns
Thesaurus| Verb | 1.pull in one's horns - make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activity; "We'll have to crawfish out from meeting with him"; "He backed out of his earlier promise"; "The aggressive investment company pulled in its horns"back away, crawfish, crawfish out, back out, retreat, pull back, withdrawdraw back, move back, pull away, pull back, recede, retreat, withdraw, retire - pull back or move away or backward; "The enemy withdrew"; "The limo pulled away from the curb" |
pull in one's horns
pull in (one's) hornsTo begin to act more cautiously. I just got this quarter's budget report, and we definitely need to pull in our horns and spend less going forward.See also: horn, pullpull in one's hornsAlso, draw in one's horns. 1. Retreat, back down, restrain oneself, as in The town manager wanted higher taxes but public reaction made him draw in his horns. This expression alludes to the snail's habit of drawing in the soft projecting parts of its body when it is threatened. The idea was first expressed in the 15th century as shrink one's horns, and the idiom with draw developed about the same time. The idiom with pull did not appear until a century later. 2. Reduce expenses, as in That drop in profits will force the company to pull in its horns. [Late 1800s] See also: horn, pullpull in one's horns
Synonyms for pull in one's hornsverb make a retreat from an earlier commitment or activitySynonyms- back away
- crawfish
- crawfish out
- back out
- retreat
- pull back
- withdraw
Related Words- draw back
- move back
- pull away
- pull back
- recede
- retreat
- withdraw
- retire
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