n. 1. The act of pulling or drawing with force; an effort to move something by drawing toward one. [ 1913 Webster ]

I awakened with a violent pull upon the ring which was fastened at the top of my box. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A contest; a struggle; as, a wrestling pull. Carew. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A pluck; loss or violence suffered. [ Poetic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Two pulls at once;
His lady banished, and a limb lopped off. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A knob, handle, or lever, etc., by which anything is pulled; as, a drawer pull; a bell pull. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The act of rowing; as, a pull on the river. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The act of drinking; as, to take a pull at the beer, or the mug. [ Slang ] Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. 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 ] [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Cricket) A kind of stroke by which a leg ball is sent to the off side, or an off ball to the side. [ 1913 Webster ]

The pull is not a legitimate stroke, but bad cricket. R. A. Proctor. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ne'er pull your hat upon your brows. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

He put forth his hand . . . and pulled her in. Gen. viii. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To draw apart; to tear; to rend. [ 1913 Webster ]

He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces; he hath made me desolate. Lam. iii. 11. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To gather with the hand, or by drawing toward one; to pluck; as, to pull fruit; to pull flax; to pull a finch. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To move or operate by the motion of drawing towards one; as, to pull a bell; to pull an oar. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Horse Racing) To hold back, and so prevent from winning; as, the favorite was pulled. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Print.) To take or make, as a proof or impression; -- hand presses being worked by pulling a lever. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Cricket) To strike the ball in a particular manner. See Pull, n., 8. [ 1913 Webster ]

Never pull a straight fast ball to leg. R. H. Lyttelton. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To exert one's self in an act or motion of drawing or hauling; to tug; as, to pull at a rope. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. poulaille. ] Poultry. [ Obs. ] Rom. of R. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. That which holds back, or causes to recede; a drawback; a hindrance. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arch) The iron hook fixed to a casement to pull it shut, or to hold it party open at a fixed point. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A number of fishhooks rigidly fastened back to be pulled through the water to catch fish. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Plucked; pilled; moulting. “ A pulled hen.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. L. pullinus belonging to young animals. See Pullet. ] Poultry. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, pulls. [ 1913 Webster ]

Proud setter up and puller down of kings. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. polete, OF. polete, F. poulette, dim. of poule a hen, fr. L. pullus a young animal, a young fowl. See Foal, and cf. Poult, Poultry, Pool stake. ] A young hen, or female of the domestic fowl. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pullet sperm, the treadle of an egg. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]