pulley
English
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pulley¹
- /ˈpʊli/ Australia, US, UK
- /ˈpɵlɪj/ British, Southern, Standard
- /ˈpʉle/ Northern Ireland, Scotland
- /-lɪ/ Northern Ireland, Scotland
- /-li/ Northern Ireland, Scotland
Rhymes with -ʊli
Where it comes from
Inherited from Middle English puly, poley, from Old French poulie, polie (“a pulley, windlass”), from Vulgar Latin *polidia, plural mistaken for the feminine of neuter *polidium, from Ancient Greek *πολίδιον (*polídion, “little pivot”), diminutive of πόλος (pólos, “pivot, hinge, axis”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to turn”). Associated with pull (verb) by folk etymology.
noun pulleys · pullies
- One of the simple machines; a sheave, a wheel with a grooved rim, in which a pulled rope or chain lifts an object (more useful when two or more pulleys are used together, as in a block and tackle arrangement, such that a small force moving through a greater distance can exert a larger force through a smaller distance). These pulleys […] placed collaterally.
- Annular ligament of the finger.
verb pulleys · pulleying · pulleyed
- To raise or lift by means of a pulley. [a mine]is digg'd out with ease, being soft, and is between a white Clay and Chalk at first; but being pulley'd up with the open Air, it receives a crusty kind of hardness
Pulley²
proper noun
- A surname.
- A hamlet in Bayston Hill parish, Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SJ4809).
Translations
Every language
noun one of simple machines
| Español | polea, roldana, garrucha, trocla, carrillo, motón |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 도르래 doreurae |
| 日本語 | 滑車 kassha |
| 中文 | 滑車 /滑车 huáchē, 滑輪 /滑轮 huálún |
| हिन्दी | घिरनी ghirnī |
| Português | roldana, polia |
| Français | poulie |
| Deutsch | Rolle, Seilrolle, Seilscheibe, Laufrolle, Flaschenzug, Riemenscheibe |
| Italiano | carrucola, puleggia |
| Ελληνικά | τροχαλία trochalía |
| Română | scripete |
| Русский | блок blok, шкив škiv |
| Tiếng Việt | ròng rọc |
| العربية | مَنْجُور manjūr |
| עברית | גלגלת galgelet |
Talk about this word "pulley." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pulley. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. pulley. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pulley "pulley." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pulley.Cite this
@misc{pulley_2026,
title = {pulley},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pulley},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
