Pull
verbTo exert force on something in order to move it towards oneself or in a given direction.
How to spell pull
4 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce pull
What does pull mean?
- verbTo exert force on something in order to move it towards oneself or in a given direction.
- nounA force of attraction or influence that draws someone or something.
Pull in a sentence
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verb
You need to pull the door firmly to open it.
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noun
The city has a strong pull for young graduates seeking work.
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verb
The tractor can pull a heavy trailer across the field.
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noun
Her family connections gave her real pull within the company.
Where does pull come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
Pull is a native English word descended from the Old English verb 'pullian', which meant 'to pluck, draw, or snatch'. In its earliest recorded uses it often described tugging at something small, such as plucking feathers or pulling herbs, before broadening to the general sense of drawing anything towards oneself by force. The word has close cousins in the Low German and Dutch family, where similar forms carried the idea of plucking or stripping. Over the centuries the meaning widened steadily, giving us figurative uses such as the 'pull' of influence or attraction. The spelling has stayed remarkably stable: the doubled 'l' and the short 'u' sound (rhyming with 'full' rather than 'pool') are the only points where a writer might hesitate.
How the word is built
- pull (single Old English root, no affixes)
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