over the long haul

Variant of haul

haul definition

haul (hôl)

transitive verb

  1. to pull with force; move by pulling or drawing; tug; drag
  2. to transport by wagon, truck, etc. to haul coal for a living
  3. hale
  4. Naut. to change the course of (a ship), specif. so as to sail closer to the wind

Etymology: 17th-c. phonetic sp. of hale < ME halen < OFr haler, to draw < ODu halen, akin to Ger holen, to fetch < IE base *kel-, to cry out (> L calare): basic sense “to call hither”

intransitive verb

  1. to pull; tug
  2. to shift direction: said of the wind
  3. Naut. to change the course of a ship, specif. so as to sail closer to the wind

noun

  1. the act of hauling; pull; tug
    1. the amount of fish taken in a single pull of a net
    2. Informal the amount gained, won, earned, etc. at one time
  3. the distance or route over which something is transported or over which one travels
  4. a load or quantity transported

Related Forms:

haul Idioms

haul ass

☆
Slang to act, go, depart, etc. quickly or hurriedly: somewhat vulgar

haul off

  1. to change a ship's course so as to draw away from something
  2. to retreat; withdraw
  3. ☆ Informal to draw the arm back before hitting

haul up

  1. to sail closer to the wind
  2. to come to rest; stop

haul your wind

or haul her wind
to sail closer to the wind
also haul to the wind

in (or over) the long haul

over a long period of time

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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