1
as in hauling
to cause to follow by applying steady force on
a team of horses pulling a heavy wagon
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in prying
to draw out by force or with effort
the dentist had to struggle to pull the tooth
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in stretching
to injure by overuse, misuse, or pressure
lift the crate carefully, or you'll pull a muscle
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pulling
Some families are pulling back on travel as gas and groceries get more expensive worldwide.
—
Anton L. Delgado, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2026
Down 3-0, the notion of the Padres pulling this one out seemed outdated.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 May 2026
Tovar ambushed Kilian’s first offering, pulling a two-run homer over the left-field fence to hand the Giants their fourth straight loss.
—Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 30 May 2026
Loftin threw wildly to first base, pulling Vinnie Pasquantino off the bag.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 30 May 2026
Is this unexpected disruption pulling you inward?
—Usa Today, USA Today, 30 May 2026
The sound reached us before the view did—first, a low physical pressure in my chest, and then the full drop appeared, nearly 750 feet, with clouds moving through the valley below, sometimes swallowing the falls entirely, sometimes pulling back to leave a rainbow hanging in the gorge.
—Chantelle Kincy, Travel + Leisure, 30 May 2026
How Silk Pillowcases Can Help Silk pillowcases are smoother than traditional cotton, allowing hair to glide across the surface instead of catching or pulling.
—Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 30 May 2026
And courts have rejected the idea of pulling funding from them in the past.
—ABC News, 23 May 2026
Anton L. Delgado, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2026
Down 3-0, the notion of the Padres pulling this one out seemed outdated.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 May 2026
Tovar ambushed Kilian’s first offering, pulling a two-run homer over the left-field fence to hand the Giants their fourth straight loss.
—Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 30 May 2026
Loftin threw wildly to first base, pulling Vinnie Pasquantino off the bag.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 30 May 2026
Is this unexpected disruption pulling you inward?
—Usa Today, USA Today, 30 May 2026
The sound reached us before the view did—first, a low physical pressure in my chest, and then the full drop appeared, nearly 750 feet, with clouds moving through the valley below, sometimes swallowing the falls entirely, sometimes pulling back to leave a rainbow hanging in the gorge.
—Chantelle Kincy, Travel + Leisure, 30 May 2026
How Silk Pillowcases Can Help Silk pillowcases are smoother than traditional cotton, allowing hair to glide across the surface instead of catching or pulling.
—Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 30 May 2026
And courts have rejected the idea of pulling funding from them in the past.
—ABC News, 23 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pulling
Verb
-
May brought news that trucking prices are hauling upward, and fast.—
Jeremy Lott,
The Washington Examiner,
30 May 2026
-
Beekeepers began hauling their hives cross-country to pollinate everything from orchard fruits and nuts, to berries, melons, squashes, sunflowers, cotton, clover, alfalfa, and seed crops.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 May 2026
Verb
-
That doesn’t mean robbing Billy of his shot at prying open Homelander’s skull, but with only a symbolic solution to Trump’s authoritarian rise — love conquers all!—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
20 May 2026
-
These evergreen or deciduous shrubs protect your garden oasis from prying eyes and create a sense of solitude.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
Whether Glasner was justified or not in his complaints, a prolonged period of poor form, stretching back well over a month, coupled with his outbursts, led to questions over his future.—
Matt Woosnam,
New York Times,
28 May 2026
-
With roots stretching back to the late 19th century, the gardens were developed with two prominent local families before becoming part of the nonprofit National Tropical Botanical Garden network in the 1980s.—
Joe Yogerst,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Verb
-
Sources of Putin’s Sluggish Polling One would think that the reason for this decline in Putin’s approval rating would be the war in Ukraine dragging on.—
Natasha Lindstaedt,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2026
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This is a man who has dedicated six and a half years of his life, just about every waking moment, to dragging his club to the top of the mountain.—
Amy Lawrence,
New York Times,
23 May 2026
Verb
-
The lifeguard pursued me in a gray metal dinghy with a bullhorn, ordering me out of the water and yanking me up over the side of his boat.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 May 2026
-
Essentially, yanking gravity away is another tool, just like temperature or pressure, that drug manufacturers can apply to improve their products.—
Eric Berger,
ArsTechnica,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
Auoon Clip-On Pot Strainer This clever clip-on pot strainer takes up less space in the cabinet and the dishwasher, and makes quick work of straining pasta water, washing fruit and vegetables, and more.—
Maggie Horton,
PEOPLE,
30 May 2026
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That’s due to inflation straining restaurant operations, according to the National Restaurant Association.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
30 May 2026
Verb
-
Jupiter's moons are in a chain of orbital resonances that could only have formed by the moons tugging gently on each other in passing over a long period of time, and crater records also suggest that Jupiter's moons are very, very old.—
Kiona N. Smith,
Space.com,
29 May 2026
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But that can’t account for comparable rises in nations that haven’t adopted such policies; average maternal age has also risen in countries around the world without tugging up gestational diabetes in the same way.—
Katherine J. Wu,
The Atlantic,
27 May 2026
Verb
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That pressure toward affordable innovation, extracting maximum value from a single ingredient across multiple form factors, is exactly what the global wellness market is demanding right now.—
Lisa Curtis,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2026
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Researchers have long viewed those materials as promising for advanced quantum devices, but extracting the entanglement remained a challenge.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
30 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pulling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pulling. Accessed 2 Jun. 2026.
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