pull
Etymology

Verb from Middle English pullen, from Old English pullian, of uncertain ultimate origin.

Noun from Middle English pul, pull, pulle, from the verb pullen.

Pronunciation
  • IPA: /pʊl/ (enPR: po͝ol)
  • (Northern England) IPA: /pʊɫ/
  • (Southern England, Central England, RP) IPA: /pʰəl/
  • (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA: /pʉl/
  • (Some speakers) IPA: [pʊ̈˕ʟˤ]
  • (fullfool merger) IPA: /puːl/
Verb

pull (pulls, present participle pulling; simple past and past participle pulled)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To apply a force to (an object) so that it comes toward the person or thing applying the force.
    When I give the signal, pull the rope.
    You're going to have to pull harder to get that cork out of the bottle.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Genesis 8:9 ↗:
      He put forth his hand […] and pulled her in.
    • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene iii]:
      Ne'er pull your hat upon your brows.
  2. To gather with the hand, or by drawing toward oneself; to pluck or pick (flowers, fruit, etc.).
    to pull fruit from a tree
    pull flax
    pull a finch
    • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC ↗:
      He and some of his companions one day entered a garden in the suburbs, and having indulged their appetites, desired to know what satisfaction they must make for the fruit they had pulled.
  3. (transitive) To attract or net; to pull in.
    • 2002, Marcella Ridlen Ray, Changing and Unchanging Face of United States Civil Society:
      Television, a favored source of news and information, pulls the largest share of advertising monies.
    • 2011, Russell Simmons, Chris Morrow, Super Rich: A Guide to Having It All:
      While the pimp can always pull a ho with his magnetism, he can never pull a nun. The nun is too in touch with her own compassionate and honest spirit to react to a spirit as negative and deceitful as that of the pimp.
  4. (ambitransitive, UK, Ireland, slang) To persuade (someone) to have sex with one.
    I pulled at the club last night.
    He's pulled that bird over there.
  5. (transitive) To remove or withdraw (something), especially from public circulation or availability.
    Each day, they pulled the old bread and set out fresh loaves.
    The book was due to be released today, but it was pulled at the last minute over legal concerns.
  6. (transitive) To retrieve or look up for use.
    I'll have to pull a part number for that.
    This computer file is incorrect. Can we pull the old version from your backups?
    • 2006, Michael Bellomo, Joel Elad, How to Sell Anything on Amazon...and Make a Fortune!:
      They'll go through their computer system and pull a report of all your order fulfillment records for the time period you specify.
  7. (construction) To obtain (a permit) from a regulatory authority.
    It's the contractor's responsibility to pull the necessary permits before starting work.
  8. (transitive, informal) To do or perform, especially something seen as negative by the speaker.
    He regularly pulls 12-hour days, sometimes 14.
    You'll be sent home if you pull another stunt like that.
    What are you trying to pull?
  9. (with 'a' and the name of a person, place, event, etc.) To copy or emulate the actions or behaviour associated with the person or thing mentioned.
    He pulled an Elvis and got really fat.
    They're trying to pull a Watergate scandal on us.
  10. To toss a frisbee with the intention of launching the disc across the length of a field.
  11. (intransitive) To row.
  12. (transitive, rowing) To achieve by rowing on a rowing machine.
    I pulled a personal best on the erg yesterday.
  13. To draw apart; to tear; to rend.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Lamentations 3:11 ↗:
      He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.
    • 2009, Ardie A. Davis, Chef Paul Kirk, America's Best BBQ, page 57:
      If you are going to pull or chop the pork butt, take it out of the smoker when the meat is in the higher temperature range, put it in a large pan, and let it rest, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes. Using heavy-duty dinner forks, pull the pork butt to shreds.
  14. (transitive) To strain (a muscle, tendon, ligament, etc.).
  15. (video games, ambitransitive) To draw (a hostile non-player character) into combat, or toward or away from some location or target.
  16. (UK) To score a certain number of points in a sport.
    How many points did you pull today, Albert?
  17. (horse-racing) To hold back, and so prevent from winning.
    The favourite was pulled.
  18. (printing, dated) To take or make (a proof or impression); so called because hand presses were worked by pulling a lever.
  19. (cricket, golf) To strike the ball in a particular manner. (See noun sense.)
    • 1888, Robert Henry Lyttelton, Cricket, Chapter 2:
      Never pull a straight fast ball to leg.
  20. (UK) To draw beer from a pump, keg, or other source.
    Let's stop at Finnigan's. The barman pulls a good pint.
  21. (intransitive) To take a swig or mouthful of drink.
    • 1957, Air Force Magazine, volume 40, page 128:
      Danny pulled at his beer and thought for a moment.
  22. (rail transportation, US, of a railroad car) To pull out from a yard or station; to leave.
  23. (transitive, law enforcement) To pull over (a driver or vehicle); to detain for a traffic stop.
    The state trooper pulled me for going 60 in a 55 zone.
  24. (cooking, transitive, intransitive) To repeatedly stretch taffy in order to achieve the desired stretchy texture.
  25. (computing) To retrieve source code or other material from a source control repository.
  26. (martial arts) In practice fighting, to reduce the strength of a blow (etymology 3) so as to avoid injuring one's practice partner.
  27. (horse racing, transitive) To impede the progress of (a horse) to prevent its winning a race.
Synonyms Antonyms
  • (antonym(s) of “apply force to (something) so it comes towards one”): push, repel, shove
Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • Portuguese: dar
Translations Translations Translations Interjection
  1. (gun sports) Command used by a target shooter to request that the target be released/launched.
Noun

pull

  1. (countable) An act of pulling applying force toward oneself.
    He gave the hair a sharp pull and it came out.
    She took several pulls on her cigarette.
    • 1726 October 27, [Jonathan Swift], Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver's Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC ↗, part I (A Voyage to Lilliput):
      I found myself suddenly awaked with a violent pull upon the ring, which was fastened at the top of my box.
  2. (uncountable) An attractive force which causes motion towards the source.
    The spaceship came under the pull of the gas giant.
    iron fillings drawn by the pull of a magnet
  3. (uncountable, figurative) An advantage over somebody; a means of influencing.
    The hypnotist exerted a pull over his patients.
    • 1944, Henry Christopher Bailey, The Queen of Spades, page 72:
      Tresham's up to his eyes in dock business and town business, a regular jobmonger, he has no use for anybody who hasn't a pull.
  4. (uncountable, figurative, informal) The power to influence someone or something; sway, clout.
    I don't have a lot of pull within the company.
  5. (countable) Any device meant to be pulled, as a lever, knob, handle, or rope.
    a zipper pull
  6. (figurative, slang, dated) Something in one's favour in a comparison or a contest; advantage.
    In weights the favourite had the pull.
  7. (uncountable, figurative) Appeal or attraction.
    the pull of a movie star
  8. (Internet) The act or process of sending out a request for data from a server by a client.
    server pull
    pull technology
  9. (countable) A journey made by rowing.
    • 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life Chapter V
      As Blunt had said, the burning ship lay a good twelve miles from the Malabar, and the pull was a long and a weary one. Once fairly away from the protecting sides of the vessel that had borne them thus far on their dismal journey, the adventurers seemed to have come into a new atmosphere.
  10. (dated) A contest; a struggle.
    a wrestling pull
    • 1609, Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall. […], new edition, London: […] B. Law, […]; Penzance, Cornwall: J. Hewett, published 1769, →OCLC ↗:
      this wrastling pull betweene Corineus and Gogmagog, is reported to have befallen at Douer.
  11. (countable) An injury resulting from a forceful pull on a limb, etc.; strain; sprain.
  12. (obsolete, poetic) Loss, misfortune, or violence suffered.
    • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene iii]:
      Two pulls at once; / His lady banished, and a limb lopped off.
  13. (countable, colloquial) A drink, especially of an alcoholic beverage; a mouthful or swig of a drink.
  14. (cricket) A type of stroke by which a leg ball is sent to the off side, or an off ball to the on side; a pull shot.
    • 1887, R. A. Proctor, Longman's Magazine:
      The pull is not a legitimate stroke, but bad cricket.
  15. (golf) A mishit shot which travels in a straight line and (for a right-handed player) left of the intended path.
  16. (printing, historical) A single impression from a handpress.
  17. (printing) A proof sheet.
  18. (gacha games) A player's use of a game's gacha mechanic to obtain a random reward.
Synonyms Antonyms
  • (antonym(s) of “act of pulling”): push, shove
  • (antonym(s) of “attractive force”): repulsion
  • (antonym(s) of “device meant to be pulled”): button, push, push-button
  • (antonym(s) of “influence”):
Translations Translations Translations Translations


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