# withdraw

> English word · Verb · IPA /wɪðˈdɹɔː/ · frequency rank #6,644

## Definitions
1. To draw or pull (something) away or back from its original position or situation.
2. To draw or pull (something) away or back from its original position or situation.
3. To draw or pull (something) away or back from its original position or situation.
4. To take away or take back (something previously given or permitted); to remove, to retract.
5. To cause or help (someone) to stop taking an addictive drug or substance; to dry out.
6. To take (one's eyes) off something; to look away.
7. To disregard (something) as belonging to a certain group.
8. To remove (a topic) from discussion or inquiry.
9. To stop (a course of action, proceedings, etc.)
10. To take back (a comment, something written, etc.); to recant, to retract.
11. To distract or divert (someone) from a course of action, a goal, etc.
12. To extract (money) from a bank account or other financial deposit.
13. Chiefly followed by from: to leave a place, someone's presence, etc., to go to another room or place.
14. Chiefly followed by from: to leave a place, someone's presence, etc., to go to another room or place.
15. Chiefly followed by from: to stop taking part in some activity; also, to remove oneself from the company of others, from publicity, etc.
16. To stop talking to or interacting with other people and start thinking thoughts not related to what is happening.
17. To stop taking an addictive drug or substance; to undergo withdrawal.
18. Of a man: to remove the penis from a partner's body orifice before ejaculation; to engage in coitus interruptus.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *wí
From Middle English withdrawen, withdrauen (“to depart, leave, move away; (reflexive) to go away; (reflexive) to leave someone’s service; (often reflexive) to draw back or retreat (from a battlefield or dangerous place), withdraw; to abandon, desert; to go, go forth; to move; of the sea, water, etc.: to (cause to) ebb, recede, subside; to disappear; to slacken, wane; (often reflexive) to cease, stop; to desist, refrain; (reflexive) to go back on, recant; to avoid, eschew; to bring under control, contain, suppress; to curb, curtail; to delay, put off; to demur, refuse; to carry or take away, deprive of, remove; to contract, draw away or in, retract; to deny, refuse; to revoke; to withhold; to divert; to separate; to adopt, borrow, imitate”) [and other forms], from with- (prefix meaning ‘away; back’) + drawen, drauen (“to drag, pull, tow, tug, draw [and other senses]”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to drag, pull; to run”)); see further at with- and draw. The English word is analysable as with- + draw.

## Easily confused with
- **withdrew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/withdraw-vs-withdrew)
- **withdrawn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/withdraw-vs-withdrawn)
- **withdrawal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/withdraw-vs-withdrawal)

## Common misspellings (13)
`iwthdraw`, `wihtdraw`, `witdhraw`, `withdarw`, `withddraw`, `withdraww`, `withdrraw`, `withdrwa`, `withhdraw`, `withrdaw`, `witthdraw`, `wtihdraw`, `wwithdraw`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/withdraw