Pull In One's Horns (Verb)
Meaning
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".
Classification
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing.
Examples
- The company had to pull in its horns and reevaluate its business strategy after suffering significant losses.
- After a financial review, management decided to pull in their horns on further investments in the failing project.
- When the CEO faced opposition, the company chose to pull in its horns and cancel the proposed merger.
- Following years of decline in sales, the company was forced to pull in its horns and close several underperforming stores.
- During the economic downturn, the business had no choice but to pull in its horns by downsizing and consolidating operations.