to pull the plug: meaning and explanation

to pull the plug (on something) = to make the decision to stop something from continuing or working.

This may involve withdrawing support or finances for something (as with micro-dictations one and two). ‘Pulling the plug’ could also involve withdrawing from a process that cannot continue without you (such as a negotiation, as in micro-dictation three).

This is quite an informal and direct idiom, and sounds quite decisive and final – imagine stopping a computer or machine by pulling the plug directly out of the socket.

Have a go at these micro-dictation exercises to hear this expression being used in context – how much can you understand?

Listening exercises

Dictation #1

Accent: Ireland

.
don’t see a sales in then we’ll .
we don’t see a major in sales in the coming then we’ll have to the plug.

About the sentence

…in the coming weeks…

In the coming days/weeks/months/years is an alternative way of talking about the future. e.g. I can’t give you much information at this stage, but you’ll hear more in the coming days.

Dictation #2

Accent: Australia

Available soon

Dictation #3

Accent: Scotland

Available soon

Photo by Neven Krcmarek on Unsplash

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Business English, Idioms