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pull in one's horns

  1. Reduce expenses, as in That drop in profits will force the company to pull in its horns . [Late 1800s]

  2. 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.



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Idioms and Phrases

Also, draw in one's horns .

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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