push away

You can use it with objects or people. For objects, it is literal. "He pushed away the heavy chair." For people, it is usually metaphorical. "She is pushing away her friends lately." Notice the word order. You can say push away the person. You can also say push the person away. Both work perfectly. If you use a pronoun like him or her, put it in the middle. Say "push him away," not "push away him."

Use it when you feel overwhelmed. Use it when you need space. It is great for describing drama in movies. You can use it at a dinner table. "I'm full, so I pushed away my dessert." Use it in a breakup conversation. "I felt you pushing me away for weeks." It fits well in therapy or deep talks with best friends. It helps explain why a relationship is failing.

Do not use it for simple rejection of an idea. For ideas, use reject or dismiss. If a boss says "no" to a raise, he didn't push away your request. He turned it down. Also, do not use it for physical doors. You push a door open. You do not push it away unless you are literally moving the door off its hinges. That would be a very intense day!

In Western cultures, personal space is very important. Pushing away is often a defense mechanism. People do it when they are scared of getting hurt. It is a common theme in Hollywood movies. The hero pushes away the girl to protect her. In modern dating, it is often called "ghosting" if it happens via text. It reflects the struggle between wanting connection and wanting safety.

You might hear push aside. This is slightly different. Push aside means to ignore something. If you push aside your feelings, you are hiding them. If you push away your feelings, you are trying to get rid of them. There is also push off. This is British slang for "go away." Be careful with that one; it is much ruder!