pull the plug

English

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Verb

pull the plug (on something) (third-person singular simple present pulls the plug, present participle pulling the plug, simple past and past participle pulled the plug) (informal)

(intransitive) to unplug or cut power
Shut off the machine and pull the plug.
He put an end to the loud music by pulling the plug.
(intransitive, idiomatic) to cease to support; to halt
It's a wonder the director didn't pull the plug on that project months ago.
- 2020 July 15, Mike Brown talks to Paul Clifton, “Leading London's "hidden heroes"”, in Rail, pages 42-43:
  "We have a deal that stopped me pulling the plug on services. But only just. I was hours from having to stop the Underground and buses from running in this, the greatest city on Earth. How insane is that? How could that even be allowed to happen?
  "I waited until five to midnight on the day when I would have had to pull the plug for the next day, before I got the letter from the Government on an interim funding settlement.
(intransitive) to cease or turn off life support
(intransitive, idiomatic) to cease production or publication.

Translations

disconnect from a supply — see unplug

unplug, cut power

Cherokee: ᎫᏓᎴᎠ (gudalea)
Danish: trække stikket
Finnish: katkaista virta
German: den Stecker ziehen
Korean: 플러그를 뽑다 (peulleogeureul ppopda)
Maori: koti
Norwegian:
Bokmål: trekke ut proppen, trekke ut kontakten
Romanian: scoate din priză
Welsh: tynnu plwg

cease to support, halt

Finnish: lakkauttaa (fi), lopettaa (fi)
German: den Garaus machen, den Stecker ziehen
Italian: staccare la spina
Norwegian:
Bokmål: trekke ut kontakten
Romanian: please add this translation if you can

References

“pull the plug”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.