PULLS Synonyms: 178 Similar and Opposite Words

pulls 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of pull

as in hauls

to cause to follow by applying steady force on a team of horses pulling a heavy wagon

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in yanks

to draw out by force or with effort the dentist had to struggle to pull the tooth

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in stretches

to injure by overuse, misuse, or pressure lift the crate carefully, or you'll pull a muscle

Synonyms & Similar Words

pulls

2 of 2

noun

plural of pull

as in tugs

the act or an instance of applying force on something so that it moves in the direction of the force I gave the door such a pull that when it suddenly opened, I nearly fell backwards

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in sways

the power to direct the thinking or behavior of others usually indirectly their lawyer supposedly has a lot of pull with the administration in Washington

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in edges

the more favorable condition or position in a competition a political candidate with all of the pull that comes with a vast fortune and famous surname

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 pulls

Verb

Outdated Fixtures and Hardware Be on the lookout for now out-of-style fixtures such as brass-and-crystal light fixtures, old-fashioned (circa 1980) doorknobs and bath faucets, or cabinet pulls that belong in grandma’s kitchen, according to Ryan. — Sheila Kim, The Spruce, 21 Sep. 2026 Oil prices are down for the fourth consecutive session as the market pulls back from the recent rally. — Spencer Kimball,justina Lee, CNBC, 21 Sep. 2026 Hur judiciously constructs scene after scene that pulls and pushes the various probes closer to and further from the mysterious truth, which feels at once obscured and hidden in plain sight. — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 20 Sep. 2026 Christiansen is acutely aware that a lecture about soil health may not be the thing that pulls somebody in. — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 19 Sep. 2026 Kind of like when a lady grabs a fella’s collar and pulls him in for a kiss, but violent. — Bethy Squires, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2026 Horgan is no stranger to mixing drama and comedy in her work, which often pulls from her own experience as a divorced, working mother of two. — Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026 By default, Smart CRM displays a table with all the key information about your contacts, including a column for recent updates that HubSpot's AI pulls from contact records. — Dianna Gunn, PC Magazine, 18 Sep. 2026 The latest not-food-in-your-food recall pulls pints of a non-dairy frozen dessert from the shelves of Walmart, Kroger, Publix, Target and other grocers. — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 17 Sep. 2026

Noun

Ferguson Home specializes in the kinds of pulls and knobs that will have guests inquiring about the finishes rather than the furniture itself. — Lori Keong, Architectural Digest, 10 Sep. 2026 These tokens fell sharply in the days after their debuts and quickly drew accusations of being rug pulls, a crypto term for projects in which insiders abruptly sell large holdings, leaving other investors with steep losses. — Camila Grigera Naón, Fortune, 8 Sep. 2026 The pulls of our star and planet equal the centripetal force needed for a smaller object to stay in place. — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 1 Sep. 2026 Clean the Hardware Before cleaning the handles, knobs, or drawer pulls, consider the hardware material. — Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 1 Sep. 2026 Because knobs and pulls are handled frequently, clean and degrease them thoroughly before painting. — Kristina McGuirk, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Aug. 2026 On Monday, the Fantasy 5 pulls will be joined by the Powerball drawing, worth an $81 million jackpot. — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 24 Aug. 2026 Sadayuki Murai’s twisty script constantly upends our understanding of the film’s reality, resulting in what might be a record-breaking number of rug pulls. — Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 21 Aug. 2026 Io is repeatedly squeezed and stretched by Jupiter and the gravitational pulls of neighboring moons Europa and Ganymede. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 11 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pulls

Verb

Nevertheless, 2022’s Scream, revs the engine of the Scream 4, then hauls it in overdrive when more murderous mayhem storms through Woodsboro.

— Michael Lee Simpson, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Sep. 2026
And just a few miles away, the popular Mount Washington Cog Railway hauls visitors to the summit of the property’s namesake, and the highest peak in the Northeast at nearly 6,300 feet.

— Erik Matuszewski, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of hauls

Verb

When that doesn’t work, Vicki yanks off her mic and retreats to her bedroom, leaving the others uncertain of what to do next.

— Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026
Johnson yanks veterans' benefits package An effort to advance a package of VA benefits bills this morning on the House floor went down in flames – the latest in Speaker Mike Johnson's struggle to get Republicans on the same page.

— Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 16 July 2026

Definition of yanks

Verb

Look for the version that stretches your world without requiring you to abandon everything familiar.

— Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 20 Sep. 2026
In March, Saudi Arabia, because of the shipping restrictions in the Persian Gulf, began transporting its crude oil through a pipeline that stretches from the kingdom’s Eastern Province to the Red Sea port of Yanbu, on its western coast.

— Kareem Fahim, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026

Definition of stretches

Noun

These diverse cultural influences are evident in the old city’s Italian-style 18th-century architecture, another major draw for visitors.

— Condé Nast Traveler, Condé Nast Traveler, 18 Sep. 2026
However, the biggest influences behind the storytelling came from classic Universal monsters and the Hammer Film Productions horrors.

— Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of influences

Noun

In places at low to moderate risk of fire, along the edges of flat valleys and lazy hills, growth in the FAIR Plan is ballooning, and it is being used to underwrite new suburban development.

— Paige St. John, Los Angeles Times, 20 Sep. 2026
That cab wore the rough, unmodernized edges of the classic 70 series that still plays by the old rules of off-roading in those countries that so allow.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of edges

Verb

Saudi Arabia also is running low on interceptors and has turned to regional and Western allies for assistance as its standoff with Houthi rebels in Yemen drags on.

— Ben Finley, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026
But as the war drags on into another winter, its impacts on the region could become more pronounced.

— John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of drags

Verb

By fields of cotton and soybeans where his bees forage and pollinate, Foster Hensel pries open the lid of one of his beehives, setting off a rising hum from inside.

— Drew Hawkins, NPR, 27 Aug. 2026
Remove the 11 Philips-head screws on the bottom of the laptop, and its bottom pries up with a bit of pressure.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 24 Aug. 2026