Pulling

How to spell pulling

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce pulling

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does pulling mean?

1. verbExerting force on something so as to move it toward oneself or in a given direction.

Pulling in a sentence

• The tugboat was pulling the barge slowly up the river.

• She kept pulling the heavy door until it finally opened.

Where does pulling come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the present participle of the verb 'pull', which descends directly from the Old English verb pullian, meaning to pluck, to draw, or to snatch. The early sense was quite forceful, closer to plucking feathers or tugging something loose than the steady drawing we often mean today. The exact ancestry beyond Old English is a little hazy, since the word has no clear, confident relatives in the other Germanic languages, so scholars treat its deeper roots as uncertain. Over the medieval period the meaning broadened from sharp plucking to the general idea of exerting force to move something toward yourself. The doubled 'l' in 'pulling' is the spelling point worth remembering: a short stressed vowel before a single final consonant doubles that consonant when '-ing' is added, just as in 'running' and 'sitting'.

How the word is built

• pull (Old English pullian: to pluck, draw)
• -ing (present participle / gerund suffix)