Dictionary entry

Pull (3)

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Pull, n. 1. The act of pulling or drawing with force; an effort to move something by drawing toward one.

I awakened with a violent pull upon the ring which was fastened at the top of my box. Swift.

2. A contest; a struggle; as, a wrestling pull. Carew.

3. A pluck; loss or violence suffered.

Two pulls at once;

His lady banished, and a limb lopped off. Shak.

4. A knob, handle, or lever, etc., by which anything is pulled; as, a drawer pull; a bell pull.

5. The act of rowing; as, a pull on the river.

6. The act of drinking; as, to take a pull at the beer, or the mug. Dickens.

7. Something in one's favor in a comparison or a contest; an advantage; means of influencing; as, in weights the favorite had the pull.

8. (Cricket) A kind of stroke by which a leg ball is sent to the off side, or an off ball to the side.

The pull is not a legitimate stroke, but bad cricket. R. A. Proctor.