cut out - pull up

[dilodi83]

Could please explain to me what different meaning have these two phrasal verbs in these sentences?

1) I was driving up a steep hill when the engine cut out.

2) I was driving up a steep hill when the engine pulled up.

3) I was driving up a steep hill when the car cut out.

4) I was driving up a steep hill when the car pulled up.cu

[Barb_D]

Could please explain to me what different meaning have these two phrasal verbs in these sentences?

1) I was driving up a steep hill when the engine cut out.

2) I was driving up a steep hill when the engine pulled up.

3) I was driving up a steep hill when the car cut out.

4) I was driving up a steep hill when the car pulled up.cu

1. The engine stopped working.
2. Not a sentence I'd ever say.
3. Acceptable, but it's the engine that stopped working, not the car as a whole. I wouldn't say this.
4. Another vehicle moved up into a position next to my car.

[Rover_KE]

In BE it's fine to say 'The engine cut out' or stalled.

Rover

[Barb_D]

But do you use "pulled up" to mean that?

"Stalled" would be the most natural thing for me, too, with #1, instead of "cut out."

[Rover_KE]

But do you use "pulled up" to mean that?

No. A car pulls up as a result of the driver braking.

Rover

[Barb_D]

Ah! Interesting.

Here, a car pulls up when you draw alongside something else.

Pull up to the drive-through window.
He pulled up beside me to tell me my gas tank was open.

[Tdol]

I wouldn't use pull up for an engine stopping. Pull up in BrE can be alongside, but you can pull up at traffic lights too.