pull

n.

1. The act of pulling

   tow, drag, haul, jerk, twitch, wrench, extraction, drawing, rending, tearing, uprooting, weeding, row, paddle; snake*, yank*.

2. Exerted force

   work, strain, tug; see strength 1.

3. *Influence

   leverage, sway, weight, authority; see influence 2.

pull

v.

1. To exert force so as to move

   draw, drag, tug, haul, tow, lug, trail, attract, lure, stretch, strain, wrench, yank, tear, rend; see also draw 1.

2. To remove by pulling

   pick, extract, uproot, pluck out; see draw 1, remove 1.

3. To incline

   slope, tend, move toward; see lean 1.

pull is the broad, general term of this list, meaning to exert force so as to cause to move toward or after the source of the force; draw suggests a smoother, more even motion than pullhe drew his sword from its scabbard; drag implies the slow pulling of something heavy, connoting great resistance in the thing pulled she dragged the desk across the floor; tug suggests strenuous, often intermittent effort in pulling but does not necessarily connote success in moving the object I tugged at the rope to no avail; haul implies sustained effort in transporting something heavy, often mechanically to haul furniture in a truck; tow implies pulling by means of a rope or cable to tow a stalled automobile