Pull (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pulled (?); p. pr. & vb. n.Pulling.] [AS. pullian; cf. LG. pulen, and Gael. peall, piol, spiol.]

1. To draw, or attempt to draw, toward one; to draw forcibly.

"Neer pull your hat upon your brows." Shak.

He put forth his hand . . . and pulled her in. Gen. viii. 9.

2. To draw apart; to tear; to rend.

He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate. Lam. iii. 11.

3. To gather with the hand, or by drawing toward one; to pluck; as, to pull fruit; to pull flax; to pull a finch.

4. To move or operate by the motion of drawing towards one; as, to pull a bell; to pull an oar.

5. (Horse Racing) To hold back, and so prevent from winning; as, the favorite was pulled.

6. (Print.) To take or make, as a proof or impression; -- hand presses being worked by pulling a lever.

7. (Cricket) To strike the ball in a particular manner. See Pull, n., 8.

Never pull a straight fast ball to leg. R. H. Lyttelton.

To pull and haul, to draw hither and thither. " Both are equally pulled and hauled to do that which they are unable to do. " South. -- To pull down, to demolish; to destroy; to degrade; as, to pull down a house. " In political affairs, as well as mechanical, it is easier to pull down than build up." Howell. " To raise the wretched, and pull down the proud." Roscommon. -- To pull a finch. See under Finch. -- To pull off, take or draw off.

Pull " (?), v. i. To exert ones self in an act or motion of drawing or hauling; to tug; as, to pull at a rope."

To pull apart, to become separated by pulling; as, a rope will pull apart. -- To pull up, to draw the reins; to stop; to halt. -- To pull through, to come successfully to the end of a difficult undertaking, a dangerous sickness, or the like.

Pull , n.

1. The act of pulling or drawing with force; an effort to move something by drawing toward one.

I awakened with a violent pull upon the ring which was fastened at the top of my box. Swift.

2. A contest; a struggle; as, a wrestling pull. Carew.

3. A pluck; loss or violence suffered. [Poetic]

Two pulls at once; His lady banished, and a limb lopped off. Shak.

4. A knob, handle, or lever, etc., by which anything is pulled; as, a drawer pull; a bell pull.

5. The act of rowing; as, a pull on the river. [Colloq.]

6. The act of drinking; as, to take a pull at the beer, or the mug. [Slang] Dickens.

"7. Something in ones favor in a comparison or a contest; an advantage; means of influencing; as, in weights the favorite had the pull. [Slang]"

8. (Cricket) A kind of stroke by which a leg ball is sent to the off side, or an off ball to the side.

The pull is not a legitimate stroke, but bad cricket. R. A. Proctor.

-- Webster's unabridged 1913