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pull up stumps

idiomcricket

The phrase 'pull up stumps' originates from cricket and is primarily used in British and Australian English to signify the end of a day's play or an activity.

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Definition

B2General

(informal, idiomatic)To stop doing something or to end an activity for the day.

Example

  • It's getting late; let's pull up stumps and continue tomorrow.
  • We decided to pull up stumps and head home after the long meeting.

C1Cricket

(technical, sport)To conclude the day's play by removing the stumps from the ground.

Example

  • The umpire signaled to pull up stumps as the sun set over the cricket field.

C1Relocation

(US, idiomatic)To move one's home to another location.

Example

  • After years in the city, they decided to pull up stumps and move to the countryside.

Similar

Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "pull up stumps":

up sticksup the stumpstrike the tentstump itpull uppull outpull up onpack updraw stumpspluck uphaul uppull offpack awayhitch uppull up a floorput up the shutterspull the plugruck upstop outpull away