Etymology 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”).
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?
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He put forth his hand […] and pulled her in.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 8:9:
Ne'er pull your hat upon your brows.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]:
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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
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pull a finch
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.1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:
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To attract or net; to pull in.
Television, a favored source of news and information, pulls the largest share of advertising monies.2002, Marcella Ridlen Ray, Changing and Unchanging Face of United States Civil Society:
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.2011, Russell Simmons, Chris Morrow, Super Rich: A Guide to Having It All:
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Ireland, UK, Ambitransitive, Slang To persuade (someone) to have sex with one.
I pulled at the club last night.
He's pulled that bird over there.
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Grab your coat, love, you've pulled.
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US, Ambitransitive, Slang To interest (someone) in dating or pursuing one (whether or not this has led to sex).
Wow, Joyce pulls, actually.2025 January 7, David Willis (cartoonist), Jennifer Billingsworth (character), "Coincidence", Dumbing of Age (webcomic)
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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.
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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?
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They'll go through their computer system and pull a report of all your order fulfillment records for the time period you specify.2006, Michael Bellomo, Joel Elad, How to Sell Anything on Amazon...and Make a Fortune!:
It's the contractor's responsibility to pull the necessary permits before starting work.
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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.
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What are you trying to pull?
What are you trying to pull, anyway? You say you want to sell, but you have nothing to offer?! You've got some nerve, kid!1995, HAL Laboratory, EarthBound, Nintendo, Super Nintendo Entertainment System:
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.2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 16:22 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2022:
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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.
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To toss a frisbee with the intention of launching the disc across the length of a field.
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To row.
It had been a sort of race hitherto, and the rowers, with set teeth and compressed lips, had pulled stroke for stroke.1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, Chapter VI:
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To transport by rowing.
As the man at the oars pulled him across, the scientist said to him, "Do you know astronomy?"2022, Reuben A. Torrey, How to Be Saved and How to Be Lost, page 164:
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Hobbies, Lifestyle, Rowing, Sports To achieve by rowing on a rowing machine.
I pulled a personal best on the erg yesterday.
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To draw apart; to tear; to rend.
He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Lamentations 3:11:
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.2009, Ardie A. Davis, Chef Paul Kirk, America's Best BBQ, page 57:
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To strain (a muscle, tendon, ligament, etc.).
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Video gamesAmbitransitive 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.2003 April 9, Richard Lawson, “Monual's Willful Ignorance”, in alt.games.everquest (Usenet):
Basically buff pet, have it pull lots of mobs, shield pet, chain heal pet, have your aoe casters finish off hurt mobs once pet gets good aggro.2004 October 18, Stush, “Re: focus pull”, in alt.games.dark-age-of-camelot (Usenet):
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This is the only thing that should get you to break off from your position, is to pull something off the healer.2005 August 2, Brian, “Re: How to tank Stratholme undead pulls?”, in alt.games.warcraft (Usenet):
You could also set a fire trap, pull the mob toward it, then send in your pet….2007 April 10, John Salerno, “Re: Managing the Command Buttons”, in alt.games.warcraft (Usenet):
Shield yourself, pull with Mind Blast if you want, or merely pull with SW:P to save mana, then wand, fear if you need to, but use the lowest rank fear.2008 August 18, Mark (newsgroups), “Re: I'm a priest now!”, in alt.games.warcraft (Usenet):
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UK To score a certain number of points in a sport.
The state trooper pulled me for going 60 in a 55 zone.
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Cooking, Food, Lifestyle To repeatedly stretch taffy in order to achieve the desired stretchy texture.
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Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To retrieve source code or other material from a source control repository.
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Government, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Martial arts, Military, Politics, Sports, War In practice fighting, to reduce the strength of a blow (etymology 3) so as to avoid injuring one's practice partner.
'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.'1897, Nat Gould, Not So Bad After All, page 200:
Etymology 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”).
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Command used by a target shooter to request that the target be released/launched.
pull
noun
Etymology 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”).
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.
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I found myself suddenly awaked with a violent pull upon the ring, which was fastened at the top of my box.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):
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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
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Figuratively An advantage over somebody; a means of influencing.
The hypnotist exerted a pull over his patients.
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.1944, Henry Christopher Bailey, The Queen of Spades, page 72:
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Figuratively, Informal The power to influence someone or something; sway, clout.
I don't have a lot of pull within the company.
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.2016, Antoinette Burton, quoting Shukdev Sharma, Africa in the Indian Imagination, Duke University Press, →ISBN:
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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.2017, Maggie Blake, Her Haunted Past, Book Venture Publishing LLC, →ISBN, page 126:
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.2020 March 27, Bettina Makalintal, “Samin Nosrat's 'Home Cooking' Podcast Will Make Your Quarantine Cooking Better”, in VICE, archived from the original on 06 Dec 2022:
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Any device meant to be pulled, as a lever, knob, handle, or rope.
a zipper pull
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Figuratively A randomized selection from a given set.
Internet The act or process of sending out a request for data from a server by a client.
server pull
pull technology
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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.
this wrastling pull betweene Corineus and Gogmagog, is reported to have befallen at Douer.1609, Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall, London: […] S[imon] S[tafford] for Iohn Iaggard, […], →OCLC:
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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.2010, Peter Corris, Torn Apart, Allen and Unwin, page 162:
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Obsolete, Poetic Loss, misfortune, or violence suffered.
Two pulls at once; / His lady banished, and a limb lopped off.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]:
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Colloquial 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.1882, H. Elliott McBride, Well Fixed for a Rainy Day:
However, both gentlemen were clearly of one mind over the quality of the wine, for they each took a prolonged pull, smacked their lips, and looked hard at each other, as though in silent communion over the excellence of the vintage.1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 9:
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Sutho took a pull at his Johnny Walker and Coke and laughed that trademark laugh of his and said: `Okay. I'll pay that all right.'1996, Jon Byrell, Lairs, Urgers and Coat-Tuggers, Sydney: Ironbark, page 294:
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Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports 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.1887, R. A. Proctor, Longman's Magazine:
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Golf, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A mishit shot which travels in a straight line and (for a right-handed player) left of the intended path.