PULL

To draw, or attempt to draw, toward one; to draw forcibly. Ne'er pull your hat upon your brows. Shak. He put forth his hand . . . and pulled her in. Gen. viii. 9.

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.

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

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

To hold back, and so prevent from winning; as, the favorite was pulled.

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

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.

To exert one's 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.

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.

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

A pluck; loss or violence suffered. [Poetic] Two pulls at once; His lady banished, and a limb lopped off. Shak.

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

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

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

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

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.