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pulling

noun

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

puuling

Say the bold part a little louder.

US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈpʊlɪŋ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. The act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

This meaning: The act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you

Used this way, pulling is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • pullverbBase word

    Cause to move by pulling.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • pullernounPerson or profession

    Someone who applies force so as to cause motion toward herself or himself.

  • pulleynounDerived noun · specialist

    A simple machine consisting of a wheel with a groove in which a rope can run to change the direction or point of application of a force applied to the rope.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • pulling outnounCompound term

    A method of birth control in which coitus is initiated but the penis is deliberately withdrawn before ejaculation.

  • leg-pullingnounCompound term

    As a joke: trying to make somebody believe something that is not true.

  • nail pullingnounCompound term

    A form of torture in which the fingernails or toenails are removed.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

  • pullovernounRelated term

    A sweater that is put on by pulling it over the head.

Related Words

Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.