pull

To move something toward yourself by holding it and using force.

• Pull the door to open it.
• He pulled the rope with both hands.
• Can you pull this chair closer?

How to use it: pull something toward someone/something (She pulled the chair toward the table.)

Similar words: tug, draw

Opposites: push

Common phrases: pull a rope, pull something toward someone, pull something open, pull a cart

To remove a flower, fruit, or plant by taking hold of it and drawing it away.

• We pulled weeds in the garden.
• She pulled a ripe apple from the tree.
• Have you pulled all the carrots yet?

How to use it: pull something from something (He pulled a flower from the bush.)

Similar words: pick, pluck

Common phrases: pull weeds, pull a flower, pull something from something

An act of using force to move something toward yourself.

• Give the rope a pull.
• One sharp pull opened the drawer.
• After several pulls, the engine finally started.

How to use it: give something a pull (Give the handle a firm pull.)

Similar words: tug

Opposites: push

Common phrases: give a pull, a sharp pull, a gentle pull

A force that draws something toward its source.

• I felt the magnet’s pull.
• The moon’s pull affects the tides.
• The spacecraft escaped the planet’s gravitational pull.

Similar words: attraction

Opposites: repulsion

Common phrases: magnetic pull, pull of gravity, gravitational pull