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Glite Dictionary
🚗 To stop moving 🌱 To remove 🧍 To stand tall
to pull up

to pull up

163 2.8
To stop or slow down a vehicle at a place
  • phrasal verb
  • /pʊl ʌp/
translation icon : detenerse
  • As we were walking, a car pulled up next to us at the traffic light.
  • pulled up to the curb
  • pulled up in front
  • the driver pulls up

Well bitch, we pull up to Korean BBQ when it's packed.

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Examples

  • The red car of the mailman pulled up on the road in front of the house.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Just as he starts to drink, a huge tour bus pulls up in front, air brakes hissing.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • And when I saw the truck pull up, I was like oh God.

  • And as they worked, a train pulled up alongside of them.

  • All right, so we are pulling up on the first group of trees here.

  • Various other police and detective types pull up in front of the house.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • They just pulled up behind my car.

    Tina and Lori (2021)

  • A small van marked ROSEDALE GENERAL HOSPITAL pulls up and Jacob jumps out of it.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Fifteen minutes later, Lester pulled up in the driveway in his Buick.

    Academic text (2010)

  • We're about to give up when a tomato-red Austin Healey pulls up to the curb.

    Academic text (2007)

Synonyms

to pull over
vsto pull up
294 2.8

To move a vehicle to the side of the road and stop

is any stop or slowdown, not specifically to roadside
to drive up
vsto pull up
70 3.1

To go to a place in a vehicle and stop near it

involves stopping or slowing rather than just approaching
to pull in
vsto pull up
19 3.1

To arrive at a station and stop there

is general stopping or slowing, not limited to station arrival
to draw up
vsto pull up
5 3.6

To stop a vehicle at a place

refers to stopping generally rather than at a set place
to haul up
vsto pull up
  • UK
1 6.0

Stop a car or taxi at the side of a road

is any stopping or slowing, not only by the roadside
to pull up short
vsto pull up
1 5.8

To stop suddenly before you expect it

is broader meaning stop or slow without suddenness
to pull in to the side of the road
vsto pull up
  • UK
3.0

Drive a car to the side of the road and stop

is broader meaning any stopping or slowing after moving

Antonyms

to continue
∞ 1.0

To keep doing something without stopping

to accelerate
  • Specialized
331 3.7

To move faster or make something happen faster

How Stopped

stop
310 1.0
to pull up
163 2.8
to slow down
687 1.4
to keep going
357 1.6

Surface Forms

pull up infinitive
pulled up past
pulled up past participle
pulling up present participle
pulls up third person singular

Morphology

pull + up

The meaning 'to remove or extract something' is directly derivable from combining 'pull' (to exert force) with 'up' (indicating upward motion); the image of pulling something up out of the ground is literal and compositional. Although the phrasal verb has other senses (e.g., stopping a vehicle), the removal sense is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should understand it.

Etymology

Pull up comes from the image of a vehicle or horse moving toward the curb and stopping after someone pulls the reins or the brake so it comes up to the side of the road. That's why it means 'to stop or slow down'.