pull
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pull
- /pʊl/ US, UK
- /pəl/ Central, England, UK
- /pʉl/ Northern Ireland, Scotland
- /puːl/
Sounds like pool (accents with foot–goose merger or full–fool merger) · Rhymes with -ʊl
Where it comes from
Verb from Middle English pullen, from Old English pullian (“to pull, draw, tug, pluck off”), of uncertain ultimate origin. Related to West Frisian pûlje (“to shell, husk”), Middle Dutch pullen (“to drink”), Middle Dutch polen (“to peel, strip”), Low German pulen (“to pick, pluck, pull, tear, strip off husks”), Icelandic púla (“to work hard, beat”).
Noun from Middle English pul, pull, pulle, from the verb pullen (“to pull”).
verb pulls · pulling · pulled · pull
- 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.
- To gather with the hand, or by drawing toward oneself; to pluck or pick (flowers, fruit, etc.). to pull fruit from a tree
- To attract or net; to pull in. Television, a favored source of news and information, pulls the largest share of advertising monies.
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To persuade (someone) to have sex with one.
I pulled at the club last night.
Similar: score
- To interest (someone) in dating or pursuing one (whether or not this has led to sex). Wow, Joyce pulls, actually.
- To remove or withdraw (something), especially from public circulation or availability. Each day, they pulled the old bread and set out fresh loaves.
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To retrieve or look up for use.
I'll have to pull a part number for that.
Similar: generate, get, get hold of, get one's hands on, lay one's hands on, obtain, retrieve
- To obtain (a permit) from a regulatory authority. It's the contractor's responsibility to pull the necessary permits before starting work.
- To do or perform, especially something seen as negative by the speaker. He regularly pulls 12-hour days, sometimes 14.
- To copy or emulate the actions or behaviour associated with the person or thing mentioned (with a and the name of a person, place, event, etc.). He pulled an Elvis and got really fat.
- To toss a frisbee with the intention of launching the disc across the length of a field.
- To row. It had been a sort of race hitherto, and the rowers, with set teeth and compressed lips, had pulled stroke for stroke.
- To transport by rowing. As the man at the oars pulled him across, the scientist said to him, "Do you know astronomy?"
- To achieve by rowing on a rowing machine. I pulled a personal best on the erg yesterday.
- To draw apart; to tear; to rend. He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.
- To strain (a muscle, tendon, ligament, etc.).
- To draw (a hostile non-player character) into combat, or toward or away from some location or target. …we had to clear a long hallway, run up half way, pull the boss mob to us, and engage.
- To score a certain number of points in a sport. How many points did you pull today, Albert?
- To hold back, and so prevent from winning. The favourite was pulled.
- To take or make (a proof or impression); so called because hand presses were worked by pulling a lever.
- To strike the ball in a particular manner. (See noun sense.) Never pull a straight fast ball to leg.
- To draw beer from a pump, keg, or other source. Let's stop at Finnigan's. The barman pulls a good pint.
- To take a swig or mouthful of drink. Danny pulled at his beer and thought for a moment.
- Of a railroad car, to pull out from a yard or station; to leave.
- (Followed by a preposition or adverb) To drive (a vehicle) in a particular direction or to a particular place. Pull around to the window please.
- 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.
- To repeatedly stretch taffy in order to achieve the desired stretchy texture.
- To retrieve source code or other material from a source control repository.
- In practice fighting, to reduce the strength of a blow (etymology 3) so as to avoid injuring one's practice partner.
- To impede the progress of (a horse) to prevent its winning a race. 'I never liked Bowler, and I had my suspicions when Captain Ferndale persuaded you to put him up in that race. I did not discover until some time after that he pulled the horse.'
- Command used by a target shooter to request that the target be released/launched.
Similar: attract, draw, hale, heave, lug, pull, schlep · Opposite: push, repel, shove, eject, leave, rest, throw
noun pulls
- An act of pulling (applying force toward oneself). He gave the hair a sharp pull and it came out.
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An attractive force which causes motion towards the source.
The spaceship came under the pull of the gas giant.
Similar: attraction
- An advantage over somebody; a means of influencing. The hypnotist exerted a pull over his patients.
- The power to influence someone or something; sway, clout. I don't have a lot of pull within the company.
- Any device meant to be pulled, as a lever, knob, handle, or rope. a zipper pull
- A randomized selection from a given set. card pull
- A high-quality or funny recommendation by the algorithm. mythical FYP pull
- A player's use of a game's gacha mechanic to obtain a random reward.
- Something in one's favour in a comparison or a contest; advantage. In weights the favourite had the pull.
- Appeal or attraction. the pull of a movie star
- The act or process of sending out a request for data from a server by a client. server pull
- 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 ad
- A contest; a struggle. a wrestling pull
- An injury resulting from a forceful pull on a limb, etc.; strain; sprain. They used steroids to build strength but, more importantly, to recover from strains, pulls, dislocations.
- Loss, misfortune, or violence suffered. Two pulls at once; / His lady banished, and a limb lopped off.
- A drink, especially of an alcoholic beverage; a mouthful or swig of a drink. Heah, Sam Johnsing, jis' take a pull at dis bottle, an' it will make yo' feel better.
- 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. The pull is not a legitimate stroke, but bad cricket.
- A mishit shot which travels in a straight line and (for a right-handed player) left of the intended path.
- A single impression from a handpress. "Tell George to come down and bring pulls of his latest plates," confirmed Joolby.
- A proof sheet.
Opposite: push, shove, repulsion, button, push-button
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: pull in, pluck, wrench, draw in, tear, twist, rend, rive, pull out, take out, get out, deplume, deplumate, displume, overstretch, fetch
verb
Similar: attract, draw, hale, heave, lug, pull, schlep · Opposite: push, repel, shove, eject, leave, rest, throw
noun
Opposite: push, shove, repulsion, button, push-button
Translations
Every language
verb transitive: apply force to (something) so it comes towards one
| Español | tirar, jalar, chejear, tractar |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 끌다 kkeulda, 뽑다 ppopda |
| 日本語 | 引く hiku, 引っ張る hipparu |
| 中文 | 拖拉 tuōlā, 拉 lā, 引 yǐn |
| हिन्दी | खींचना khī̃cnā |
| Kiswahili | kuvuta |
| Português | puxar, tirar |
| Français | tirer |
| Deutsch | ziehen |
| Italiano | tirare |
| Ελληνικά | τραβώ travó |
| Română | trage |
| Русский | тяну́ть tjanútʹ, потяну́ть potjanútʹ, тащи́ть taščítʹ, потащи́ть potaščítʹ, тяга́ть tjagátʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | kéo, giật, lôi |
| العربية | جَرَّ jarra, سَحَبَ saḥaba |
| עברית | מָשַׁךְ mashákh |
verb intransitive: apply force such that an object comes toward the person or thing applying the force
| Español | jalar, halar |
|---|---|
| Português | puxar |
| Français | tirer |
| Deutsch | ziehen |
| Italiano | tirare |
| Русский | тяну́ть tjanútʹ, потяну́ть potjanútʹ, тащи́ть taščítʹ, потащи́ть potaščítʹ |
verb slang: persuade (a person) to have sex with one
| Español | ligar |
|---|
verb succeed in finding a person with whom to have sex
| Français | tirer un coup |
|---|
verb do, perform
| Português | dar |
|---|
verb to strain a muscle or ligament or tendon
| Español | tirón, desgarrarse, esguinzar |
|---|
noun attractive force
| Português | atração |
|---|---|
| Русский | притяже́ние pritjažénije, тя́га tjága, влече́ние vlečénije |
noun appeal
| Русский | притяга́тельность pritjagátelʹnostʹ |
|---|
Talk about this word "pull." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pull. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. pull. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pull "pull." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pull.Cite this
@misc{pull_2026,
title = {pull},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pull},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
