〜抜く: 'Pull Out' and 'See It Through' (Meaning + Examples)
As a plain verb: to pull out, extract
抜く on its own means to physically remove or extract something — a cork, a nail, a splinter, or (idiomatically) an advantage.
やったんは洗面所の栓を抜くと、水がガバガバ流れ出した。
やったんは せんめんじょの せんを ぬくと、みずが ガバガバ ながれだした。
The moment Yattan pulled out the sink's stopper, water came gushing out.
栓を抜く = literal 'pull out the plug'.
彼は生き馬の目を抜くようなやつだ。
かれは いきうまの めを ぬくような やつだ。
He's the kind of guy who could pluck the eye out of a living horse — shrewd and ruthless.
A fixed idiom for a sharp, opportunistic person; uses the literal 'extract' meaning.
As a suffix: to do something all the way through
Attached to a verb's ます-stem, 抜く means to carry an action through to its very end, usually despite hardship, exhaustion, or competition.
| Attaches to | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ます-stem (endure) | V-stem + 抜く | 生き抜く (survive to the end) |
| ます-stem (finish) | V-stem + 抜く | やり抜く (see it through) |
| ます-stem (overtake) | V-stem + 抜く | 追い抜く (overtake, pass) |
モチとやったんは、辛いマラソンを最後まで走り抜いた。
モチと やったんは、つらい マラソンを さいごまで はしりぬいた。
Mochi and Yattan ran the grueling marathon all the way to the end.
走り抜く = 'run through to the finish', despite the difficulty.
Don't confuse with 〜切る
〜切る (V-stem + 切る) also means "to do completely," but it emphasizes reaching a clean finish point (食べ切る = "finish eating everything"). 〜抜く emphasizes pushing through obstacles or endurance along the way — surviving, persevering, outlasting — which is why it pairs with words like 生きる, 苦しい状況, and long, grueling tasks rather than simply "finishing a plate of food."
The short version
- 抜く = "pull out, extract" (plain verb); as a suffix, "do all the way through" (endurance/completion).
- Attaches to: a noun + を + 抜く (literal); V-stem + 抜く (suffix).
- Nuance/register: the suffix implies persevering past difficulty, not just finishing.
- Don't confuse with: 〜切る, which stresses a clean completion point rather than endurance.
Practice it
Choose 抜く for the literal 'pull out' sense or the 'see it through to the end' suffix sense.
＿＿＿に入れるのに最もよいものを選びなさい。
彼は生き馬の目を＿＿＿ようなやつだ。
Where 〜抜く fits
Shaky on this? Get these solid first
- 〜きる · N3 — 〜きる attaches to a verb stem to mean do completely or finish entirely: 食べきる, 使いきる, 疲れきる. Learn the forms, the negative 〜きれない, and common mistakes.
More N2 grammar to explore
Keep going with related patterns at the same level:
- 〜おまけに — おまけに is a sentence-connecting conjunction meaning 'to make matters worse', 'on top of that', or 'what's more'. It piles a second unwelcome fact onto an already bad situation described in the previous sentence.
- せいぜい — せいぜい is an adverb meaning 'at most,' 'at best,' or 'only' — せいぜい100ドル足らず ('at most, barely 100 dollars'). It caps an estimate at its upper limit, usually implying that limit is smaller or less impressive than expected.
- 〜て以来 — 〜て以来 attaches to the て-form of a one-time past event to mean 'ever since...' — 日本に来て以来、毎日が楽しい. It marks a turning point after which a new state has continued unbroken.
- 〜と同時に — 〜と同時に attaches to a plain-form verb or noun to mean 'at the same time as / as soon as' — ベルが鳴ると同時に生徒が出た. It links two events happening simultaneously, or one triggering the other instantly.
- 〜ところだった — 〜ところだった means something almost happened but was narrowly avoided — 'I was just about to / I almost did.' It attaches to the dictionary form of a verb and often follows a close call like あぶない or もう少しで.
- つい — つい is an adverb meaning 'unintentionally / before I knew it' — it describes an action that slipped out despite the speaker's intentions, or a habitual slip. Common with speaking, eating, and other hard-to-control impulses.