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withdraw

/wɪðˈdrɔː//wɪðˈdrɔː/·verb
to take money out of an account; to remove, retreat, or take back
Fig. 1 — An empty, palm-up hand waits at the tray of a cash machine.
01Definition

To withdraw is to take money out of an account, lowering the balance — and, more widely, to draw back or remove: troops withdraw, a runner withdraws from a race, a speaker withdraws a remark. It is built from with-, 'back', and draw, 'to pull'. In finance it is the opposite of deposit; take out too much, too often, and you deplete the account. The noun is withdrawal.

02In use
  • iHe withdrew just enough cash to cover the purchase.
  • iiThe general ordered the troops to withdraw before dawn.
  • iiiAfter the backlash, she withdrew her earlier statement.
03Collocations
  • withdraw money
  • withdraw cash
  • withdraw from
  • withdraw support
  • withdraw a statement

Family withdrawal (noun) · withdrawn (adjective)

04Relations

=take out, draw, remove, retract, pull out

≠deposit, advance

05Compared
PairThe difference
withdraw vs depositvalue goes in and the balance rises → deposit; value comes out and it falls → withdraw.
withdraw vs withholdtake back something already given or in place → withdraw; keep back something never released → withhold.
06TOEFL & IELTS

A high-value verb with several senses: take out money, pull back (troops/forces), take back (a remark or offer), and pull out of (a race or course). The noun withdrawal and the adjective withdrawn ('quiet, shy') are both worth knowing. Preposition: withdraw FROM. In account contexts, contrast it cleanly with deposit.

07Asked
Is it 'withdrew' or 'withdrawn'?
Both, in different slots — withdraw is irregular: withdraw, withdrew, withdrawn. Withdrew is the simple past ('she withdrew the cash yesterday'); withdrawn is the past participle, used after have/has/had or in the passive ('the offer has been withdrawn'). It conjugates exactly like draw — drew, drawn — with the with- riding in front unchanged. The tell is the helper: a have nearby wants withdrawn.
What is the difference between 'withdraw' and 'withdrawal'?
Withdraw is the verb — the action ('I need to withdraw some money'). Withdrawal is the noun — the act or an instance of it ('a cash withdrawal', 'the withdrawal of troops'). The common error is writing the noun for the verb: 'I want to withdrawal money' is wrong; it should be withdraw. If a to sits in front or the word is doing an action, you want the verb, withdraw.
What does 'withdrawn' mean as an adjective?
Quiet, shy, emotionally distant — a withdrawn child keeps to themselves and does not engage. It is the participle turned into a description of temperament, and it borrows the verb's core motion: someone withdrawn has pulled back from contact, retreated inward. It is gentler and more clinical than 'antisocial', suggesting someone who has drawn away rather than someone who pushes others off.
What does withdraw mean beyond taking out money?
To draw back or remove — troops withdraw from a border, a runner withdraws from a race, a speaker withdraws a remark. The scene above shows the money sense (notes leaving a cash machine, the balance clicking down), but the same pulling-back motion runs through all of them: something is taken out of where it was. The financial and the physical senses are set against deposit on the deposit vs withdraw page in the 'Compared' list above.
How do you pronounce withdraw?
with-DRAW — two syllables, stress on the second, which sounds just like the verb 'draw'. The th is the soft, voiced one of 'this', not the hard one of 'thin'. Its forms keep the pattern: with-DREW, with-DRAWN, and the noun with-DRAW-uhl. The stress never moves off that second syllable, so the word is easy once the soft th is in place.