1.   Apple and makers of Mac-compatible machines have been at loggerheads for months while Apple attempts to pull the reins on its licensing program.

2.   If they pull the reins in as they have in other years, they could well be doomed.

3.   The coach was nearly in retreat, trying as hard as he could to pull the reins in on the galloping story of an offensive metamorphosis.

4.   The central bank yesterday said in its quarterly economic outlook that while the recovery continued, an April rise in sales taxes was pulling the reins on growth.