pull

pull vb Pull, draw, drag, haul, hale, tug, tow mean to cause to move in the direction determined by the person or thing that exerts force.

Pull, the general term, is often accompanied by an adverb or adverbial phrase to indicate the direction

{

two locomotives pull the heavy train up the grade

}

{

pull a person toward one

}

{

pull down goods from a shelf

}

{

pull out a drawer

}

{

he felt pulled this way and that way by duty and by ambition

}

Draw usually implies a pulling forward or toward the person or thing that exerts the force; commonly it implies a steadier and smoother and often gentler motion than pull

{

draw a chair to the fireside

}

{

the coach was drawn by six horses

}

{

draw a sled over the snow

}

{

draw the curtains

}

{

draw lots from an urn

}

In extended use draw often specifically implies a result dependent on a drawing by lot

{

draw a prize

}

{

draw a jury

}

or by extracting

{

draw a tooth

}

or by an inferring

{

draw a conclusion

}

or by attracting

{

the parasol drew him like a magnet— Wharton

}

{

the drawing power of a play

}

or a bringing forth or eliciting from a source of supply

{

draw money from the bank

}

{

a . . . being from whom we draw power and refreshment— Day Lewis

}

Drag implies a pulling slowly and heavily after the agent or thing exerting force over the ground or a surface; it usually suggests active or passive resistance

{

the horses dragged the overturned carriage half a mile

}

{

the ship dragged her moorings in the storm

}

{

drag the laden net to the shore

}

{

drag logs to the river

}

{

the attempt which is now being made to drag Anglicanism away from its history and traditions— Inge

}

Haul implies a forcible pulling, sometimes a dragging

{

when the hawser fell into the water, there was no means of hauling the boat to shore

}

{

haul down the sails

}

{

that dangling figure was hauled up forty feet above the fountain— Dickens

}

{

began to kiss all the girls, young and old, until his wife . . . hauled him aside and calmed him down— Styron

}

Haul may imply transportation of heavy materials in a vehicle or conveyance

{

wagons hauling loads of wood

}

{

trucks hauling gravel

}

{

trains that haul coal from the mines

}

Hale may occasionally replace haul in the sense of pulling forcibly

{

the rope that haled the buckets from the well— Tennyson

}

but more often it is used of the constraining, compelling, or dragging of a reluctant person

{

natives, haled long distances to court as liquor witnesses— Colby

}

Tug implies a strenuous, usually spasmodic pulling, but it may or may not suggest actual movement

{

the child tugged at his father's hand

}

{

tugged at the chains with the aid of two husky comrades— Costain

}

{

the Old Inhabitant chuckled and tugged at his little goatee— Brandt

}

Tow implies pulling or drawing (as by a rope or chain) something which is not using or is unable to use its own power (tow a ship into its berth)

{

tow a wrecked automobile to a garage

}

{

a truck comes out from headquarters, and tows the wagon— G. R. Stewart

}