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1. Apply force so as to cause motion towards the source of the motion
   "Pull the rope"; "Pull the handle towards you"; "pull the string gently"; "pull the trigger of the gun"; "pull your knees towards your chin"
    
2. Cause to move by pulling
   "pull a sled";
   - draw
    
3. Direct toward itself or oneself by means of some psychological power or physical attributes
   "The ad pulled in many potential customers"; "This pianist pulls huge crowds";
   - attract, pull in, draw, draw in
    
4. Move into a certain direction
   "the car pulls to the right"
    
5. Bring, take, or pull out of a container or from under a cover
   "pull out a gun"; "The mugger pulled a knife on his victim";
   - draw, pull out, get out, take out
    
6. Steer into a certain direction
   "pull one's horse to a stand"; "Pull the car over"
    
7. Strain abnormally
   "The athlete pulled a tendon in the competition"; "I pulled a muscle in my leg when I jumped up";
   - overstretch
    
8. Cause to move in a certain direction by exerting a force upon, either physically or in an abstract sense
   "A declining dollar pulled down the export figures for the last quarter";
   - draw
    
9. Operate when rowing a boat
   "pull the oars"
    
10. Rein in to keep from winning a race
    "pull a horse"
     
11. Tear or be torn violently
    "pull the cooked chicken into strips";
    - rend, rip, rive [archaic]
     
12. (baseball) hit in the direction that the player is facing when carrying through the swing
    "pull the ball"
     
13. Remove feathers
    "pull a chicken";
    - pluck, tear, deplume, deplumate [rare], displume [rare]
     
14. Remove, usually with some force or effort; also used in an abstract sense
    "pull weeds"; "pull out a bad tooth";
    - extract, pull out, pull up, take out, draw out, rip out, tear out
     
15. Take away
    "pull the old soup cans from the supermarket shelf"
     
16. [Brit, informal] Draw (liquor) from a tap
    - tap
     
17. [Brit, slang] Successfully get someone to be one's date or sex partner
    "he pulled last night";
    - score [slang]
     
18. [informal] Perform an act, usually with a negative connotation
    "pull a bank robbery";
    - perpetrate, commit

1. The act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you
   "the pull up the hill had him breathing harder"
    
2. The force used in pulling
   "the pull of the moon"; "the pull of the current"
    
3. Special advantage or influence
   "the chairman's nephew has a lot of pull";
   - clout
    
4. A device used for pulling something
   "he grabbed the pull and opened the drawer"
    
5. A sharp strain on muscles or ligaments
   "he was sidelined with a hamstring pull";
   - wrench, twist
    
6. A slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke)
   "he took a pull on his pipe";
   - puff, drag [informal]
    
7. A sustained effort
   "it was a long pull but we made it"

Derived forms: pulling, pulls, pulled

Type of: act, actuation, advantage, aspiration, breathing in, bust [informal], device, displace, draw, drive, effort, elbow grease, exertion, force, harm, hit, hurt, inhalation, injure, injury, inspiration, intake, move, propulsion, rein, rein in, remove, row, rupture, snap, strip, sweat [informal], take, take away, take out, tear, trauma, travail [literary], vantage, withdraw, wound

Part of: smoke, smoking

Encyclopedia: Pull, John