arrancar
transitive verb
1 (sacar de raíz) [+planta, pelo] to pull up [+clavo, diente] to pull out; [+pluma] to pluck; [+ojos] to gouge out; [+botón, esparadrapo, etiqueta] to pull off; tear off; [+página] to tear out; rip out; [+cartel] to pull down; tear down
he estado arrancando las malas hierbas del jardín I've been pulling up the weeds in the garden
le arrancó la oreja de un mordisco he bit off his ear
azulejos arrancados de las paredes de una iglesia tiles that have been pulled off the walls of a church
[+explosión, viento] to blow off una explosión le arrancó las dos piernas an explosion blew both his legs off
el vendaval ha arrancado varios árboles the gale has uprooted several trees
el golpe le arrancó dos dientes the blow knocked two of his teeth out
(Med) [+flema] to bring up2 (arrebatar) to snatch;a, de from; (con violencia) to wrench;a, de from
le arrancó al niño de los brazos she snatched the baby from his arms
no podían arrancarle el cuchillo they were unable to get the knife off him; they were unable to wrest o wrench the knife from him
el viento me lo arrancó de las manos the wind blew it out of my hands; the wind snatched it from my hands (formal)
3 (provocar) [+aplausos] to draw; [+risas] to provoke; cause
el tenor arrancó una gran ovación the tenor received a great ovation
hemos conseguido arrancarle una sonrisa we managed to get a smile out of him; el beso arrancó algunos suspiros entre el público when they kissed part of the audience let out a sigh
arrancar las lágrimas a algn to bring tears to sb's eyes
4 (separar)
arrancar a algn de [+lugar] to drag sb away from; [+éxtasis, trance] to drag sb out of; [+vicio] to wean sb off a bad habit
no había forma de arrancarla del teléfono there was no way I could drag her away from the phone
5 (obtener) [+apoyo] to gain; win; [+victoria] to snatch; [+confesión, promesa] to extract; [+sonido, nota] to produce
no hubo forma de arrancarle una palabra we couldn't get a word out of him
arrancar información a algn to extract information from sb; get information out of sb
intransitive verb
1 [+vehículo, motor] to start
el coche no arranca the car won't start o isn't starting; esperé hasta que arrancó el tren I waited until the train left
2 (moverse) to get going; get moving
¡venga, arranca! come on, get going o get moving!; come on, get a move on! (familiar)
3 (comenzar) to start
¿desde dónde arranca el camino? where does the road start?
el momento donde arrancó nuestra relación the moment when our relationship started
arrancar a hacer algo to start doing sth; start to do sth
arrancó a hablar a los dos años she started talking o to talk when she was two; arrancó a cantar/llorar he broke o burst into song/tears
arrancar de to go back to; date back to
esta celebración arranca del siglo XV this celebration dates o goes back to the 15th century
problemas que arrancan de muy antiguo problems that go back a long way
pronominal verb
arrancarse1 (quitarse) [+pelo] to pull out [+botón] to pull off
he ido al dentista a arrancarme un diente I went to the dentist to have a tooth pulled out o extracted
2 (empezar)
se arrancaron a cantar they burst into song; en mitad del paseo se arrancó a recitar un poema in the middle of the walk she started to recite a poem
arrancarse por seguiriyas to break into a seguidilla
3 (Chile) (escaparse)
se me arrancó el perro my dog got away; me arranqué de la oficina más temprano I left the office earlier; se arrancaron de la cárcel they escaped from prison