1to pull out or extract something that is inserted or fixed in place (e.g. unplugging, pulling out a nail or weed)
床に打ち込んだ釘を抜くのは大変だ。
Pulling out a nail hammered into the floor is hard work.
テレビを消してからコンセントを抜いてください。
Please unplug the TV after turning it off.
畑の雑草を根ごと抜いた。
I pulled the weeds out of the field, roots and all.
2to omit or leave out a part of something; to skip or go without (e.g. a meal or step)
今朝は寝坊して朝ごはんを抜いた。
I overslept this morning and skipped breakfast.
冗長な部分は原稿から抜いてください。
Please remove the redundant parts from the manuscript.
本の序章を抜いて二章から読み始めた。
I skipped the introduction and started reading from chapter two.
3a suffix attached to the -masu stem of a verb, meaning 'to do (something) all the way through' or 'thoroughly' (e.g. やり抜く, 耐え抜く)
彼は約束した仕事を最後までやり抜いた。
He carried the promised work through to the end.
困難を耐え抜くには覚悟が必要だ。
You need determination to endure hardship all the way through.
試験期間中、彼女は最後まで勉強し抜いた。
During the exam period, she kept studying all the way to the end.
4to let out air or drain liquid; to empty something (e.g. letting air out of a tire, draining a bathtub)
自転車のタイヤの空気を抜いて運んだ。
I let the air out of the bicycle tire to carry it.
お風呂の残り湯を全部抜いて掃除した。
I drained all the remaining bathwater and cleaned the tub.
5to pick out or select something; to extract or single out items from a group
大量のデータから重要な項目だけを抜き出した。
I extracted only the important items from the large dataset.
彼は候補者の中から一人を抜いて推薦した。
He singled out one person from the candidates to recommend.
本から面白い箇所だけを抜き書きした。
I copied down only the interesting parts from the book.
6to pilfer or steal something quietly, typically small amounts, taken surreptitiously
休憩室からお菓子を抜いたのが見つかってしまった。
I was caught taking sweets from the break room.
その社員は会社の小口現金を抜いていたことが判明した。
It turned out that the employee had been pocketing petty cash from the company.
7to remove or get rid of something unwanted; to take something away, physical or abstract
システムから古い機能を抜いて動作を軽くした。
We removed old functions from the system to make it run faster.
虫歯を抜くために歯医者に行った。
I went to the dentist to have a decayed tooth pulled out.
8to pass or overtake someone or something; to get ahead (commonly used for vehicles or in races)
山道で慎重に前の車を抜いた。
I carefully overtook the car in front on the mountain road.
彼はラストスパートでライバルを抜いて優勝した。
He passed his rival in the final sprint and won.
渋滞中に無理に車線を変えて他車を抜くのは危険だ。
It's dangerous to change lanes recklessly to pass other cars in a traffic jam.
9to pierce or penetrate through something (e.g. an arrow or blade going through); often also written 貫く
刃が鎧を抜いて中まで達した。
The blade went through the armor and reached inside.
10in dyeing, to create a pattern by leaving a section undyed while dyeing the surrounding area (a specialized textile term)
伝統的な技法で布の一部分の色を抜いて模様を作った。
Using a traditional technique, they created a pattern by leaving part of the fabric undyed.
11to seize or capture a stronghold; to reduce or neutralize an opponent's strength (military/strategic contexts)
敵の拠点を抜く作戦が成功した。
The operation to seize the enemy stronghold succeeded.
12to scoop a story; to obtain and publish an exclusive piece of news before rivals (journalism)
あの週刊誌が大物政治家の不祥事を抜いた。
That weekly magazine scooped the scandal of a major politician.
13in the game of go, to capture and remove an opponent's stones from the board
その妙手で相手の三つの石を抜いた。
With that brilliant move, he captured three of his opponent's stones.
14vulgar slang: for a male to masturbate, or to ejaculate while masturbating
彼は一人になると自分の部屋でこっそり抜いていた。
When he was alone, he'd quietly masturbate in his room.
15slang for taking a photo or recording video (colloquial, mainly among younger speakers)
試合の決定的瞬間をスマホで抜いてSNSに上げた。
He captured the decisive moment of the match on his phone and posted it on social media.
彼はライブ中に動画を抜いて友達に見せた。
He recorded a video during the live show and showed it to his friends.