pulling

verb

present participle of pull
1
as in hauling
to cause to follow by applying steady force on a team of horses pulling a heavy wagon

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pulling Philips said he’s been able to grow revenue by folding in four additional, smaller businesses, integrating their operations into his factory, and reinvesting heavily in systems rather than pulling cash out for himself. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 2 Aug. 2026 Beyond using high-quality and fresh beans, keeping them whole until just before pulling the espresso is just as important. — Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Aug. 2026 At the end of her emotional post, Kimberly included an old photo of James pulling each of his children into a huge hug. — Desiree Anello, PEOPLE, 2 Aug. 2026 New data is emerging that stress at work is pulling people into the kind of negative feedback loop that feels impossible to escape. — Mena Mirhom, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026 The team at Ace did this by creating a seed list of the major state fairs, pulling from World Population Review. — Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 1 Aug. 2026 Following your daily routine can feel like pulling teeth today. — Usa Today, USA Today, 31 July 2026 The Moon enters practical Capricorn this morning, pulling attention toward structure, responsibility, and the work that needs real support beneath it. — Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 26 July 2026 Collector item drops, album release celebrations and meet-and-greets tied to TV shows, films or music artists are pulling fans into stores in ways online orders can’t replicate. — Lauren Schuster, Kansas City Star, 25 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pulling
  1. hauling
  2. prying
  3. stretching
  4. dragging
  5. yanking
  6. straining
  7. tugging
  8. extracting
Verb
  • DeKalb County Sheriff's officials said, shortly after noon, a 2025 Mazda CX-5, a Mack semi-tractor trailer hauling gravel, and a 2013 Nissan Altima collided at the intersection of Illinois Route 23 and Melms Road.
    — Todd Feurer, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • If life includes hauling a small child in a safety seat, the CLA’s rear door frame will be a challenge when hoisting out or placing a small child.
    — Mark Ewing, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of hauling
Verb
  • Miller has entered the conversation for most dominant closer ever, and multiple contenders are interested in prying him away from a middling team.
    — The Athletic MLB Staff, New York Times, 27 July 2026
  • Not with these linen panels that Malek Barney recommends—the thicker fabric strikes that Goldilocks balance between privacy and natural light, letting sunlight gently filter through while still shielding your space from prying eyes.
    — Alexandra Emanuelli, Southern Living, 22 June 2026
Definition of prying
Verb
  • The Pro Bowl running back participated in the early walk-through session and team stretching period before moving to the sideline to work with trainers.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • Due to this, a few individuals find stretching the lid to fit over the container to be occasionally challenging.
    — BestReviews, Mercury News, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of stretching
Verb
  • That wider perspective matters, because sovereignty isn't achieved simply by dragging every service into the spare room.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 5 Aug. 2026
  • The video opens with Itami dragging a half-conscious Burke by his legs and delivering him to a young couple on a crime spree.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of dragging
Verb
  • The episode feinted toward genuine rapprochement before yanking the rug out, leaving the Gang pelted with an industrial-grade indoor blizzard and then happily chucking rocks at passing trains, as was Mac and Charlie’s childhood tradition.
    — Dennis Perkins, Entertainment Weekly, 28 July 2026
  • The tentacular Scylla is seen briefly but makes an impact, yanking sailors off Odysseus’s ship in a series of loud jump scares.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 16 July 2026
Definition of yanking
Verb
  • Christian Kirk has been out since straining a calf in Sunday’s opening session.
    — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 31 July 2026
  • Officials insist political or academic criticism remains protected, but the decree raises unanswered questions about how hate speech will be defined and enforced, already straining relations with neighboring Brazil.
    — Isabel Debre, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026
Definition of straining
Verb
  • Other players rushed to the scene, with linebacker Dre Greenlaw tugging right tackle Colton McKivitz to the ground, prompting fullback Kyle Juszczyk to enter the fray and a dogpile ensued.
    — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 31 July 2026
  • After tugging on the singer's arm, the concertgoer was quickly apprehended by security.
    — Edward Segarra, USA Today, 31 July 2026
Definition of tugging
Verb
  • Asteroid mining is also mentioned as a potential opportunity, which would entail extracting metals and other critical resources from near-Earth and main-belt asteroids.
    — Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 3 Aug. 2026
  • Rather than burning coal for energy or converting it into fuels, the process focuses on extracting carbon-rich molecular structures that can serve as feedstock for advanced engineering materials.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of extracting

Browse Nearby Words

pull in
pulling
pulling a face
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pulling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pulling. Accessed 7 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on pulling

Nglish: Translation of pulling for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of invidious

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

How long is a jiffy?
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All