pull - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Preparing to pull a car from the mud with a rope (verb sense 1)

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”).

pull (third-person singular simple present 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.
    Pull your belt tight before starting off, will you?
  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, chiefly 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.
    Grab your coat, love, you've pulled.
  5. (ambitransitive, US, slang) To interest (someone) in dating or pursuing one (whether or not this has led to sex).
    • 2025 January 7, David Willis (cartoonist), Jennifer Billingsworth (character), "Coincidence", Dumbing of Age (webcomic):
      Wow, Joyce pulls, actually.
  6. (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.
  7. (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.
  8. (construction) To obtain (a permit) from a regulatory authority.
    It's the contractor's responsibility to pull the necessary permits before starting work.
  9. (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?
    • 2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 16:22 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?‎[1], archived from the original on 3 November 2022:
      Faced with an enemy whose largest gun turrets weigh more than the entire ship, Johnston decides that running is boring, and instead pulls a full 180-degree turn and charges straight back at the attacking forces.
  10. 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.
    They're trying to pull a Watergate on us.
  11. To toss a frisbee with the intention of launching the disc across the length of a field.
  12. (intransitive) To row.
  13. (transitive) To transport by rowing.
  1. (transitive, rowing) To achieve by rowing on a rowing machine.
    I pulled a personal best on the erg yesterday.
  2. To draw apart; to tear; to rend.
  1. (transitive) To strain (a muscle, tendon, ligament, etc.).
  2. (video games, ambitransitive) To draw (a hostile non-player character) into combat, or toward or away from some location or target.
  1. (UK) To score a certain number of points in a sport.
    How many points did you pull today, Albert?
  2. (horse-racing) To hold back, and so prevent from winning.
    The favourite was pulled.
  3. (printing, dated) To take or make (a proof or impression); so called because hand presses were worked by pulling a lever.
  4. (cricket, golf) To strike the ball in a particular manner. (See noun sense.)
  5. (UK) To draw beer from a pump, keg, or other source.
    Let's stop at Finnigan's. The barman pulls a good pint.
  6. (intransitive) To take a swig or mouthful of drink.
  1. (rail transportation, US) Of a railroad car, to pull out from a yard or station; to leave.
  2. (transitive, intransitive) (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.
    He pulled the car forward until he was out of the way.
  3. (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.
  4. (cooking, transitive, intransitive) To repeatedly stretch taffy in order to achieve the desired stretchy texture.
  5. (computing) To retrieve source code or other material from a source control repository.
  6. (martial arts) In practice fighting, to reduce the strength of a blow (etymology 3) so as to avoid injuring one's practice partner.
  7. (horse racing, transitive) To impede the progress of (a horse) to prevent its winning a race.

transitive: apply force to (something) so it comes towards one

intransitive: apply force such that an object comes toward the person or thing applying the force

pluck

retrieve or generate for use

to strain a muscle or ligament or tendon

succeed in finding a person with whom to have sex

pull

  1. (gun sports) Command used by a target shooter to request that the target be released/launched.

pull (countable and uncountable, plural pulls)

  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 28, [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.
    • 2016, Antoinette Burton, quoting Shukdev Sharma, Africa in the Indian Imagination, Duke University Press, →ISBN:
      She wants to work in the villages, and she has a lot of pull with some ministers and there she is, like a political supervisor.
    • 2017, Maggie Blake, Her Haunted Past, Book Venture Publishing LLC, →ISBN, page 126:
      I have already put Matthew Williams off for a few days. He wants to see her too, but he doesn't have pull with the director.
    • 2020 March 27, Bettina Makalintal, “Samin Nosrat's 'Home Cooking' Podcast Will Make Your Quarantine Cooking Better”, in VICE‎[7], archived from the original on 6 December 2022:
      If Netflix truly cared about those of us sequestered to our homes, with our shelves of beans and bad-news-addled brains, it would release either a new season of Queer Eye or another season of the similarly soothing Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat to help us bide our time. Alas, I have no pull at Netflix, and neither seems to be coming soon.
  5. (countable) Any device meant to be pulled, as a lever, knob, handle, or rope.
    a zipper pull
  6. (countable, figurative) A randomized selection from a given set.
    card pull
    1. (Internet slang) A high-quality or funny recommendation by the algorithm.
      mythical FYP pull
    2. (gacha games) A player's use of a game's gacha mechanic to obtain a random reward.
  7. (figurative, slang, dated) Something in one's favour in a comparison or a contest; advantage.
    In weights the favourite had the pull.
  8. (uncountable, figurative) Appeal or attraction.
    the pull of a movie star
  9. (Internet) The act or process of sending out a request for data from a server by a client.
    server pull
    pull technology
  10. (countable) A journey made by rowing.
  1. (dated) A contest; a struggle.
    a wrestling pull
  1. (countable) An injury resulting from a forceful pull on a limb, etc.; strain; sprain.
  1. (obsolete, poetic) Loss, misfortune, or violence suffered.
  1. (countable, colloquial) A drink, especially of an alcoholic beverage; a mouthful or swig of a drink.
  1. (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.
  1. (golf) A mishit shot which travels in a straight line and (for a right-handed player) left of the intended path.
  2. (printing, historical) A single impression from a handpress.
  1. (printing) A proof sheet.

act of pulling

attractive force

device meant to be pulled

appeal

internet: situation where a client sends out a request for data

From English pull, via 拉 (“to cause a thread to sink to the bottom of list of threads”, literally “to pull”).

pull

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, Internet slang) to cause a thread to sink to the bottom of list of threads

From Middle Low German bulle. First attested in 1648.

pull (genitive pulli, partitive pulli)

  1. bull, ox (male non-castrated bovine)
    Synonym: sõnn
    Hypernym: veis
    Coordinate terms: lehm, härg, mullikas, tarvas
    terve kui pull ― healthy like a bull
  2. (by extension) any male animal, especially a moose
Declension of pull (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative pull pullid
accusative nom.
gen. pulli
genitive pullide
partitive pulli pullepullisid
illative pullipullisse pullidessepullesse
inessive pullis pullidespulles
elative pullist pullidestpullest
allative pullile pullidelepullele
adessive pullil pullidelpullel
ablative pullilt pullideltpullelt
translative pulliks pullidekspulleks
terminative pullini pullideni
essive pullina pullidena
abessive pullita pullideta
comitative pulliga pullidega

From Proto-Finnic *pullo. Cognates include dialectal Finnish, Karelian, Livvi, and Votic pullo (“bubble; float; swim bladder”), Livonian buļ (“bubble”), Ingrian pullu (“bubble”), Ludian pull (“bubble”) and Veps pulo (“float”).

pull (genitive pulli, partitive pulli)

  1. (obsolete or dialectal outside of compounds) bubble
    Synonym: mull
    • 1897, “Mees Üllikjärve ääres” (chapter 13), in Matthias Johann Eisen, compiler, Näki raamat‎[8], Tallinn: T. Turgan, →ISBN, page 13:
      Püsti tõustes kuulnud suurt sulpsatust järve peal, nagu oleks suur kivi vette visatud. Ilus naesterahvas olnud korraga kadunud. Seal kus ta püsti tõusis, vahutanud järve vesi ja ajanud pullisid vee peale.
      When he got up, he heard a big splash on the lake, as if a big stone had been thrown into the water. The beautiful woman had suddenly disappeared. Where she stood, the water of the lake foamed and drove bubbles onto the water.
    • 1877, Lilli Suburg, chapter I, in Liina. ühe eesti tütarlapse elulugu, temast enesest jutustatud.‎[9], Tartu: Schnakenburg, page 4:
      Kesk tuba seisab pisikene laud, sääl pääl üks pesuwaagen kuhjaga täis seebiwahu pullisid, Aurora ülesse kääritud käistega ühel ja mina niisamuti teine pool lauda, wõtame käpuga neid wahu pulla ja wiskame teine teisele suure naermisega pähä ja kus aga juhtub, nõnda, et wahune wesi juba sorinal mööda silma-nägu ja riideid maha jooseb, aga ka mõni wahututt juuste, ninade ja õlade külge rippuma on jäänud, mis meile nii weidrad näud annab, et proua ja preili ennast selle üle katki tahawad naerda.
      [Keset tuba seisab pisikene laud, seal peal üks pesuvaagen kuhjaga täis seebivahu mulle, Aurora üles kääritud käistega ühel ja mina niisamuti teisel pool lauda, võtame käpuga neid vahumulle ja viskame teineteisele suure naermisega pähe ja kuhu aga juhtub, nõnda, et vahune vesi juba sorinal mööda silma, nägu ja riideid maha jookseb, aga ka mõni vahututt juuste, ninade ja õlgade külge rippuma on jäänud, mis meile nii veidrad näod annab, et proua ja preili ennast selle üle katki tahavad naerda.]
      In the middle of the room there is a small table, on it there is a wash basin full of soapy foam bubbles, Aurora with her sleeves rolled up on one side and me on the other side of the table, we pick up the foam bubbles with our hands and throw them at each other's heads and wherever else with a big laugh, so that the foamy water already runs down our eyes, faces and clothes, but also some tufts of foam are left hanging on our hair, noses and shoulders, which gives us such strange faces that the lady and the missus want to burst laughing at us.
Declension of pull (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative pull pullid
accusative nom.
gen. pulli
genitive pullide
partitive pulli pullepullisid
illative pullipullisse pullidessepullesse
inessive pullis pullidespulles
elative pullist pullidestpullest
allative pullile pullidelepullele
adessive pullil pullidelpullel
ablative pullilt pullideltpullelt
translative pulliks pullidekspulleks
terminative pullini pullideni
essive pullina pullidena
abessive pullita pullideta
comitative pulliga pullidega

| | This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “some dictionaries consider this to be etymology 1 "bull" with semantic development, some claim it to be a separate sound-symbolic term. Possible folk-etymology?” | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |

pull (genitive pulli, partitive pulli, comparative pullim, superlative kõige pullim) (colloquial)

  1. funny, strange
Declension of pull (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative pull pullid
accusative nom.
gen. pulli
genitive pullide
partitive pulli pullepullisid
illative pullipullisse pullidessepullesse
inessive pullis pullidespulles
elative pullist pullidestpullest
allative pullile pullidelepullele
adessive pullil pullidelpullel
ablative pullilt pullideltpullelt
translative pulliks pullidekspulleks
terminative pullini pullideni
essive pullina pullidena
abessive pullita pullideta
comitative pulliga pullidega

pull (genitive pulli, partitive pulli) (colloquial)

  1. joke, prank, trick (a strange, funny story or incident)
Declension of pull (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative pull pullid
accusative nom.
gen. pulli
genitive pullide
partitive pulli pullepullisid
illative pullipullisse pullidessepullesse
inessive pullis pullidespulles
elative pullist pullidestpullest
allative pullile pullidelepullele
adessive pullil pullidelpullel
ablative pullilt pullideltpullelt
translative pulliks pullidekspulleks
terminative pullini pullideni
essive pullina pullidena
abessive pullita pullideta
comitative pulliga pullidega

From Swedish bulle.

pull (genitive pulli, partitive pulli)

  1. (obsolete) loaf of bread
Declension of pull (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative pull pullid
accusative nom.
gen. pulli
genitive pullide
partitive pulli pullepullisid
illative pullipullisse pullidessepullesse
inessive pullis pullidespulles
elative pullist pullidestpullest
allative pullile pullidelepullele
adessive pullil pullidelpullel
ablative pullilt pullideltpullelt
translative pulliks pullidekspulleks
terminative pullini pullideni
essive pullina pullidena
abessive pullita pullideta
comitative pulliga pullidega

See etymology 2.

pull (genitive pullu, partitive pullu)

  1. float (fishing, angling)
Declension of pull (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative pull pullud
accusative nom.
gen. pullu
genitive pullude
partitive pullu pullepullusid
illative pullupullusse pulludessepullesse
inessive pullus pulludespulles
elative pullust pulludestpullest
allative pullule pulludelepullele
adessive pullul pulludelpullel
ablative pullult pulludeltpullelt
translative pulluks pulludekspulleks
terminative pulluni pulludeni
essive pulluna pulludena
abessive pulluta pulludeta
comitative pulluga pulludega

Clipping of pull-over, from English pullover.

pull m (plural pulls)

  1. pullover
    Synonyms: chandail, tricot
    Il fait froid; je vais mettre mon pull.
    It's cold; I'm going to put on my pullover.

From Proto-Germanic *pullaz (“pool”)

pull m or f

  1. pool, creek

Unadapted borrowing from English pull.

pull m (plural pulls)

  1. (ultimate frisbee) pull

Onomatopoeic

pull

  1. Used to attract a hen or other bird.

Usually repeated.