Pull

Source : Wright, Joseph English Dialect Dictionary web : https://eddonline4-proj.uibk.ac.at/edd/main.html

PULL, v. Var. dial. uses in Sc. Irel. Eng. and Aus. Also in forms pa' Suf.; poo Cai.1 Cum.3 Wm. w.Yks.1 Lan. Chs.1; pool w.Yks. Shr.1; pou Sc. Cum.; pow Sc. Cum.; pu' Sc. Uls. Chs.1 Chs.3 [pul, pūl, pū.] 1. In comb. with prep. and adv.: (1) to pull along with, to keep on good terms with; (2) pull back, (a) to unravel, or undo knitting or sewing; (b) to withdraw, retract; (3) pull down, to bring to naught, subvert; (4) pull in, (a) to finish speaking; (b) of an evening: to close in as the autumn advances; (5) pull out, to pull through; (6) pull over, to knock over; (7) pull up, (a) to take a seat at table; (b) to climb up; (c) to decrease one's expenditure; (d) to refuse further credit; (e) to hold up, ‘pluck up.’ (1) Don. The Lord Mayor... somehow managed to pull along with the oul' nadger, Cent. Mag. (Nov. 1899) 41. (2, a) w.Yks.1 (b) Lan. Mi word's bin passed, an' aw'm noane pooin' it back, Clegg David's Loom (1894) 177. (3) Sc. An ill won penny will pu' down a pound, Ramsay Prov. (1737). (4, a) Cum.3 I begon rayder to think sham o shootin an bellerin at an oald man,.. an when I hed poo't in, he just said as whietly as iver at I was nateral cur'osoty, 12. (b) Nrf. As the nights ‘pull in,’ and the gunners grow more keen, Emerson Birds (ed. 1895) 220. (5) Wil. The doctor said I was just in time, but he warn't sure I'ld pull out, Swinstead Parish on Wheels (1897) 23. (6) Suf. I ha' been hully pa'ad over with the rheumatic, e.An. Dy. Times (1892). (7, a) Lan. Coom, pull up an' tak' your breakfast, Longman's Mag. (Jan. 1900) 253; ‘Well, all's ready now.’ ‘Pull up, then,’ returned her host, ‘Help yo'rsel,’ Longman's Mag. (Nov. 1895) 72. (b) Lan. We'n walkt o'er roofish roads, An' pood up mony a brow, Harland Lyrics (1866) 101. (c) n.Lin.1 (d) A person who has had further credit refused by the bank, or a shopkeeper with whom he deals, is said to have been pulled up, n.Lin.1 (e) Cum. At partin he poud up his spirits, Anderson Ballads (ed. 1808) 23; Pou up your heads; ay deil may care, Gilpin Sngs. (1866) 58.

2. Comb. (1) Pull-back, (a) a drawback, hindrance; relapse after convalescence; (b) a man who assists in delivering coals from a cart; (2) Pull-bone, the merrythought of a fowl; (3) Pull-ling, the mosscrops, Eriophorum vaginatum; (4) Pull-off, an achievement; (5) Pull-over, a gap in the sand-hills where carriages can be pulled over on to the beach; a cart-road over a sea-bank; (6) Pull-pace, a driving pace, a rapid pace; (7) Pull-poker, a dragon-fly. (1, a) w.Yks. Tew as hard's ta likes, an' du as weel's tha may, tha'll finnd aht tha'll hae mony a pull-back yit, Leeds Merc. Suppl. (May 26, 1896). n.Lin.1 It was a real bad pullback for her to braak her airm afoore she was oot ageän fra her layin' in. sw.Lin.1 They try hard for a living, but they've a very many pull-backs. Lei.1 It's a gret pull-back tew 'er, 'er bein' as shay doon't have no fingers o' the roight 'and, loike, oon'y 'er thoomb. Nhp.1 He has had so many pull-backs, he could not get on. War.2 It was a great pullback to us, the master being laid up all last winter; War.3, w.Wor.1, se.Wor.1 Oxf. (G.O.); Oxf.1 Losin' the cow an' caaf was a gret pulback, MS. add. Hnt. (T.P.F.), Ken.1 (b) Lon. The man who accompanies him to aid in the delivery of the coals was described to me as the ‘trimmer,’ ‘trouncer,’ or ‘pull-back,’ Mayhew Lond. Labour (1851) III. 262, ed. 1861. (2) w.Yks. It is often pulled by two young persons until it snaps in two. The person getting the small part is jokingly said to be married the first (J.T.). (3) Twd. There is a moss plant with a white cottony head growing in mosses, which is the first spring food of the sheep... It is commonly called pull ling. The sheep take what is above the ground tenderly in their mouths, and without biting it draw up a long white stalk, Statist. Acc. I. 133 (Jam.). (4) n.Yks. It was a queer pull off (I.W.). (5) Lin. The sea swept over the pull-over at Sutton, Lin. Chron. (Mar. 16, 1883); Lin.1 There is a broad, but very heavy pull-over opposite the New Inn and Vine Hotels at Skegness. n.Lin. (E.A.W.P.) e.Lin. (J.T.F.) (6) n.Yks.2 (7) Ess. (H.H.M.)

3. Phr. (1) big enough to pull a gig, very large of its kind; (2) pull devil, pull baker, (3) pull dog, pull devil, used to describe a severe struggle or tussle; (4) to pull a face, to make a grimace; to put on an expression of gravity and disgust; (5) pull a slip, a wool-combers' term: see below; (6) pull at the same rope, to be in the same boat; (7) pull bonds, see below; (8) pull by a pap, to milk; (9) pull by the neck, see below; (10) pull each way, to pull in opposite directions; to pull one against the other; (11) pull eyes at, to make eyes at; (12) pull feet, to walk fast; (13) pull gorfin, see (4); (14) pull hot-foot, see (12); (15) pull one by the sleeve, to take means for recalling wavering affections; (16) pull one out, to draw one out; (17) pull over the rolls, to call to account for some misdeed; (18) pull snooks, to put the fingers to the nose in derision; (19) pull tag, to pull anything by a cord while some one pushes behind; (20) pull the backie, to indulge in secular conversation; (21) pull the castock (custoc), or pull the stock, see below. (1) n.Lin.1 A person wishing to describe any very small thing as very large of its kind is wont to say that it is big enough to pull a gig. ‘I leets can'le an' lawsy me, if ther' wasn't a grut huge lop e' bed big enif to pull a gig.’ (2) Sc. (A.W.) Lan. It was a case of ‘pull devil, pull baker’ (F.R.C.). (3) Nrf. I had had a pratty gude spell o' work morning and night, pull dawg pull devil, as the saying is, Spilling Molly Miggs (1873) 5. (4) Wm. Thae wer stannan a ther hindre legs, an pooin sick feeases at ma barn es ya nivver saa i o yer life, Spec. Dial. (1885) pt. iii. 3. w.Yks. If he didn't pull a face like a fiddle all th' week, Bickerdike Beacon Ann. (1872) 28; w.Yks.1; w.Yks.2 He pulled a face as long as a fiddle. Lan. What are yo pooin sich a face at? Clegg Sketches (1895) 11. Not.1 Lei.1 Ah'll mek ye pull a feace sure's ivver ye coom anoigh. War.3 (5) w.Yks. ‘To pool a slip,’ is the act of pulling the wool by hand to straighten it, before working it on to the hand-comb (J.C.); T'combers wor quite sick, For weeks they nivver pooled a slip, Bill Hoylus End Poems (1867) 43, ed. 1891. (6) Lan. Aw think we may booath poo at th' same rope... Becose hoo's sowd me too, Brierley Marlocks (1867) ii. (7) Oxf.1 To draw a handful of wheat from the sheaf, arrange it and place it on the ground ready to ‘tie up’ another sheaf. A boy often ‘pulls bonds’ and the labourer's wife ties up, MS. add. (8) Chs.1 Oo's as good a little kye as ever wur pood by a pap. (9) Cum. His hoaf-brokken horses seùnn kick thersels out, And poos him by t'neck, gayly low, Dickinson Cumbr. (1876) 242; It was the custom for the ploughman to wear the guiding cords in one piece, the middle being behind his neck, that he might not drop the cords whilst his hands were engaged in holding the stilts and throwing sods at his team, DICKINSON Cumbr. note. (10) Shr.1 ‘Well, Jane, yo'n got married, I 'ear.’ ‘Aye, an' I amma afeard but whad we sha'n do well, an' one pool each way.’ Both pull together is what Jane Binsley meant to express. (11) Dev. I see my darter pulling eyes at the fule, Phillpotts Sons of Morning (1900). (12) n.Yks.2 Thoo'l hae te pull feeat te owertak 'em. (13) Chs.1 Chs.3 (14) Cor. A bull ups an' lets 'ee know... Tes jest pull hot-foot, and thank the Lord for hedges, ‘Q.’ Troy Town (1888) x. (15) Sc. Jeanie Deans is no the lass to pu' him by the sleeve, or put him in mind of what he wishes to forget, Scott Midlothian (1818) xl. (16) Sc. There is a small maiden of the name of Minnie who will soon pull you out, Swan Gates of Eden (1895) xi. (17) e.Yks.1 MS. add. (T.H.) w.Yks. ‘Tha'll get pooled ower t'rolls, lad, fer breykin' yond pot.’ Probably this is an expression that has arisen in the textile districts where it is customary for a piece-taker-in to pull the pieces he has to examine over a roll in front of a window, the light shining through them showing up the defects, such as thin places and ends down, Leeds Merc. Suppl. (May 26, 1896). (18) Nhp. (F.R.C.) (19) s.Wor. Of a woman pulling a plough by a cord while her husband pushed it, ‘I shall be mighty glad when I 'a done wi' pull-tag’ (H.K.). n.Wil. The boy or man who pulls the cord attached to a lawn mowing-machine, or a wheelbarrow which is too heavy for one man to wheel, is said to ‘pull tag’ (E.H.G.). (20) Cai.1 When the clock had struck twelve Daavid Steven said, ‘Noo bairns, we can poo the backie.’ (21) ne.Sc. You went to the kailyard and with eyes blindfolded pulled the first stock of cabbage or greens touched. According to the quantity of earth that remained attached to the root, and according to the form of the stock, whether well or ill shapen, were augured the amount of worldly means and the comeliness of the future husband or wife. It was placed inside the door, and the baptismal name of the young man or young woman who entered first after it was placed was to be the baptismal name of the husband or wife, according as it was a young woman or a young man that had pulled and placed the castoc, Gregor Flk-Lore (1881) 84. Abd. The ‘custoc,’ that is a stock of kail, had to be pulled blindfolded, two going hand in hand to the kail-yaird for the purpose. If the stem was crooked, the future spouse would be the same, if straight and tall, he or she would be handsome, and if earth adhered to the root the person who tried the incantation would marry money. The ‘custoc’ was then bitten to ascertain from its sweetness or sourness the disposition of the coming partner for life, Abd. Wkly. Free Press (Nov. 5, 1898). Ayr. To burn their nits, an' pou their stocks, An' haud their Halloween, Burns Halloween (1785) st. 2; The first ceremony of Halloween is, pulling each a stock, or plant of kail. They must go out, hand in hand, with eyes shut, and pull the first they meet with. Its being big or little, straight or crooked, is prophetic of the size and shape of the grand object of all their spells ─ the husband or wife, Burns Halloween note.

4. To gather fruit, flowers, &c.; to reap beans or peas; to pull up by the root. Sc. Do you remember my finding the cow-boy busied in pulling pears? Scott St. Ronan (1824) xi; The time for pu'in' nuts an' slaes, Wright Sc. Life (1897) 77. Ayr. The lasses staw frae 'mang them a' To pou their stalks o' corn, Burns Halloween (1785) st. 6; They go to the barn-yard, and pull each, at three several times, a stalk of oats. If the third stalk wants the tap-pickle, that is, the grain at the top of the stalk, the party in question will come to the marriage bed anything but a maid, Burns Halloween note. Lnk. He's out in the yard powing kail runts, Graham Writings (1883) II. 17. Lth. Thomson Poems (1819) 177. Peb. I pou'd the green rashes, Affleck Poet. Wks. (1836) 141. Slk. Than a' the flowers o' the forest pu', Hogg Poems (ed. 1865) 435. Dmf. We'll pu' a' his dibbled leeks, Cromek Remains (1810) 148. Cum. As I was powen pezz to scawd ae night, Relph Misc. Poems (1747) 95. n.Yks. We are pullin beans (I.W.); n.Yks.4 Wa mun pull t'currants ti morn. ne.Yks.1 Sha's pullin' berries. e.Yks.1 Apple pullin 'll seean [soon] come on. n.Lin.1 We was pullin' apples e' th' new otchard th' daay th' mare deed.

5. To pluck a fowl. Cum. I wad rayder poo a duzzen geese nor ya hare, Richardson Talk (1871) 1st S. 75, ed. 1883. n.Lin.1 If yĕ doänt get them chickens pull'd missis 'll be efter yĕ. Nhp. People pulling geese, Clare Shep. Calendar (1827) 97, in Peacock Gl. (ed. 1889).

6. To pull down or out.

   w.Yks. Boys pull t'nests afore t'bods be fligged (W.F.).

7. To clear a ditch of weeds. e.An.1 8. Rick-making term: see below. Bwk. The wright, the smith, an' tailor Wull Gie ilk an han' the stacks to pull, Calder Poems (1897) 96. n.Yks. (I.W.) Lei.1 [Hay] is then unloaded and ricked. The sides of the rick are pulled, and the rick is finally topped out (s.v. Hay).

8. To carry by horse or other traction; to draw. Lan. What should hindher 'em fro pooin' carts? Clegg David's Loom (1894) ii. w.Cor. Corn is said to be pulled in harvest, and coals to be pulled from St. Ives (J.W.).

9. To plough. Uls. (M.B.-S.) 11. To steal.

   Lon. We lived by thieving, and I do still ─ by pulling flesh, Mayhew Lond. Labour (1851) I. 414.

10. To prosecute; to summon before a magistrate. Oxf. I'll have him pulled if he don't mind (G.O.). e.An.1 Nrf. The owner ‘pulled’ Bob for maliciously killing his cat, Emerson Marsh Leaves (1895) 21, ed. 1898. Cmb. (J.D.R.) Ken.1 If he knocks me about again I shall pull him. Sur.1 He's bin that disagree'ble ever sin I pulled him that time. Sus.1 [Aus. You'll be pulled for using language calculated to cause a breach of the peace, Boldrewood Miner's Right (1890) xii.]

11. Fig. To weaken; to bring low; to ‘pull down.’ Ken.1 The ague's properly pulled him this time; Ken.2 It has pulled him sadly.