pull

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pʊl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English pullen, inherited from Old English pullian (“to pluck off, draw out”),^[2][3] a word of unknown or uncertain origin,^[2][3][4] perhaps related to Low German pūlen “to remove the husk”, Frisian pûlje “to shell, husk”, Middle Dutch polen “to peel, strip” and Icelandic púla “to work hard”.^[2][3][5] Hoad thinks “to pluck, snatch” was the original meaning.^[6] The noun is from the verb.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To pluck or draw out: about 1000, in Old English.^[3] “To drag, move by pulling” is from about 1300,^[3][2] and the word is found in surnames from the mid-13th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word first expressed a short sharp action, like pluck and snatch,^[7] and then came to mean one of sustained force.^[4] “To pick, gather by hand”, of fruit and flowers, is from the early 14th century, and “to extract, uproot”, of teeth and weeds, from the mid-14th.^[2] “To attract, draw to oneself” and “to pluck at with the fingers” are from about 1400, and by the late 16th century pull had replaced draw in these senses.^[2] The noun meant a turn at pulling in the mid-14th century, a drink or swig by the 1570s,^[2] and personal influence, as in have pull, by 1889 in American English.^[2] To pull someone's leg is from 1882,^[2] and to pull the plug refers to the plug of an early flushing toilet, not an electric plug.^[7] To pull someone's chain is from 1974.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – to pluck, draw out.^[3]
• c. 1300 – to drag.^[3][2]
• early 14th century – to pick fruit or flowers.^[2]
• c. 1400 – to attract.^[2]
• c. 1440 – noun, an act of pulling.^[8]
• 1570s – noun, a drink.^[2]
• 1882 – pull someone's leg.^[2]
• 1889 – influence.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To apply force to something so as to move it towards oneself; to drag or tug.
2. To remove from a fixed place; to extract: pull a tooth.
3. To strain a muscle.
4. To attract: the show pulled a big crowd.
5. To row a boat.
6. To withdraw or cancel: pull an advertisement.

Noun

1. The act of pulling, or the force used.
2. (informal) Special influence: he has pull with the boss.
3. A deep drink or puff.
4. Something used for pulling, such as a handle.

Word family

• puller
• pullable
• pulldown
• pullout
• demand-pull inflation
• tractor pull

Related words

• pluck
• snatch
• pull-over
• pullover

Usage notes

The OED has two unrelated older nouns pull: a pool in a stream (about 1075) and a fowl (1604).^[8]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press