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Glite Dictionary
to pull for the underdog

to pull for the underdog

4.7
Cheer for a team or person who is expected to lose
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : apoyar al menos favorecido
  • Many fans pull for the underdog team, hoping for an exciting upset.

Examples

  • Always pullin' for the underdog, eh, Wanda?

    Spawn (1997)

  • The crowd always pulls for the underdog during the championship game.

  • She tends to pull for the underdog in any competition, cheering them on enthusiastically.

Synonyms

to root
vsto pull for the underdog
  • US
113 2.9

To cheer for someone or a team because you want them to win

chooses the weaker competitor to support instead of general cheering
to root for
vsto pull for the underdog
  • Informal
110 3.0

To cheer for a person or team so they do well

backs the less favored competitor rather than any likely winner
to pull for
vsto pull for the underdog
  • Informal
23 4.2

Support someone in a competition or hard situation

supports specifically the competitor expected to lose or less favored to win
to throw one's weight behind
vsto pull for the underdog
3 6.6

To support a person or idea by using your influence

supports specifically the competitor expected to lose rather than using influence

Surface Forms

pull for the underdog infinitive
pulled for the underdog past
pulled for the underdog past participle
pulling for the underdog present participle
pulls for the underdog third person singular

Morphology

pull + for + the + underdog

The words 'for' and 'underdog' clearly indicate support for a disadvantaged competitor, but 'pull' in its basic sense ('to drag') does not literally mean 'support.' The meaning 'pull for' = 'root for/support' is a conventionalized, somewhat metaphorical extension that a B1 learner might guess from context or cross-linguistic parallels but would not reliably derive from the constituents alone.

Etymology

Pull for the underdog may come from a simple image: to pull someone is to help move them forward, and an underdog was the weaker dog that ended up under the other in old fights. That's why the phrase means 'to support the competitor who is expected to lose'.