the act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you; the pull up the hill had him breathing harder; his strenuous pulling strained his back

[ Syn: pulling ]

the force used in pulling; the pull of the moon; the pull of the current'

special advantage or influence; the chairmans nephew has a lot of pull

[ Syn: clout ]

a device used for pulling something; he grabbed the pull and opened the drawer'

a sharp strain on muscles or ligaments; the wrench to his knee occurred as he fell; he was sidelined with a hamstring pull

[ Syn: wrench , twist ]

a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke); he took a puff on his pipe; he took a drag on his cigarette and expelled the smoke slowly

[ Syn: puff , drag ]

a sustained effort; it was a long pull but we made it'

cause to move by pulling; draw a wagon; pull a sled

[ Syn: draw , force ]

operate when rowing a boat; pull the oars'

rein in to keep from winning a race; pull a horse'

tear or be torn violently; The curtain ripped from top to bottom; pull the cooked chicken into strips

[ Syn: rend , rip , rive ]

hit in the direction that the player is facing when carrying through the swing; pull the ball'

strip of feathers; pull a chicken; pluck the capon

[ Syn: pluck , tear , deplume , deplumate , displume ]

remove, usually with some force or effort; also used in an abstract sense; pull weeds; extract a bad tooth; take out a splinter; extract information from the telegram

[ Syn: extract , pull out , pull up , take out , draw out ]

take sides with; align oneself with; show strong sympathy for; We all rooted for the home team; Im pulling for the underdog; Are you siding with the defender of the title?

[ Syn: root for ]

take away; pull the old soup cans from the supermarket shelf'

direct toward itself or oneself by means of some psychological power or physical attributes; Her good looks attract the stares of many men; The ad pulled in many potential customers; This pianist pulls huge crowds; The store owner was happy that the ad drew in many new customers

[ Syn: attract , pull in , draw , draw in ]

move into a certain direction; the car pulls to the right'

apply force so as to cause motion towards the source of the motion; Pull the rope; Pull the handle towards you; pull the string gently; pull the trigger of the gun; pull your knees towards your chin'

perform an act, usually with a negative connotation; perpetrate a crime; pull a bank robbery

[ Syn: perpetrate , commit ]

bring, take, or pull out of a container or from under a cover; draw a weapon; pull out a gun; The mugger pulled a knife on his victim

[ Syn: draw , pull out , get out , take out ]

steer into a certain direction; pull one's horse to a stand; Pull the car over'

strain abnormally; I pulled a muscle in my leg when I jumped up; The athlete pulled a tendon in the competition

[ Syn: overstretch ]

cause to move in a certain direction by exerting a force upon, either physically or in an abstract sense; A declining dollar pulled down the export figures for the last quarter

[ Syn: draw ]