pull at

phrasal verb

pulled at; pulling at; pulls at

1

: to hold onto and pull (something) repeatedly

When she gets nervous, she pulls at her ear.

2

: to breathe in the smoke from (a cigarette, pipe, etc.)

He rocked back and forth, pulling at his pipe.

Examples of pull at in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Correa’s red card at Getafe, Lenglet’s shirt pull at Espanyol and a poor collective first-half effort in the final game against Barca were all avoidable. —Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025

Southampton captain Jack Stephens marked him tightly and pulled at his shirt, with Rogers once more questioning referee Thomas Bramall’s decisions. —Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025

Trump was expected to sign the order Thursday, but it was pulled at the last minute. —Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 7 Mar. 2025

If needed, lightly holding your skin taut should be enough to shave the area without excessively stretching or pulling at it. —Cristina Mutchler, Verywell Health, 14 Mar. 2025

Rhymes for pull at

• begat
• bobcat
• chitchat
• doormat
• ducat
• eclat
• format
• hazmat
• muskrat
• nonfat
• polecat
• thereat