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pulling

pulling

1 1.0
An act of using force to move something toward you
  • noun
  • /ˈpʊlɪŋ/
translation icon : tirón
  • She felt a strain in her muscles from pulling the ladder toward her.

We went from plucking pears to pulling plows, right.

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Examples

  • You can adjust the tightness by pulling these two clips.

  • And this is going to require pulling down the wall of stones.

  • This object here is pulling the rope down.

  • He showed great strength while pulling the heavy cart up the hill.

  • The dog was pulling on the leash, eager to run after the squirrel.

Synonyms

pull
vspulling
45 1.0

A strong movement toward you to move or open something

is any act of exerting force to move something in a direction
drag
vspulling
31 2.3

A hard pull of something across a surface

is about exerting force to move toward oneself or another direction
haul
vspulling
20 2.5

An act of pulling something with effort

is the simple act of exerting force to move in a chosen direction
draw
vspulling
5 2.8

An act of pulling something, often with force

is focused on moving toward oneself or a chosen direction by force
draft
vspulling
  • Specialized
3 6.1

The pulling of a heavy load by animals or machines

is general exerting of force to move things by hand or otherwise
drawing
vspulling
3.3

Pulling a load like a cart to move it

is about exerting force to move something toward oneself

Antonyms

1.2

To use force to move something away from you

Idioms

pulling teeth
  • Informal
1 8.3

Very difficult and unpleasant to get someone to do something

Compounds

20 6.1

Withdrawing the penis from a partner's vagina before he releases sperm to try to avoid pregnancy

leg-pulling
  • Informal
7.0

An act of joking to make someone believe something not true

nail pulling
  • Offensive
9.9

Removing someone's fingernails or toenails to cause a lot of pain

How Strong

tug
31 1.1
pulling
1 1.0
hauling
11 2.6

Surface Forms

pulling singular
pullings plural

Morphology

pulling = pull (transparent) = pull + ing

A direct nominalization/gerund formed from the verb 'pull' with the productive suffix '-ing', so the meaning is directly derived from 'pull'.

Etymology

Pulling comes from the simple verb pull, which means 'to move something toward you' or 'to give it a strong tug'. So pulling is the action of using force to draw or move something in a direction, like pulling a rope to bring a boat to shore.