pullover
Americannoun
-
pullovers
plural
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pullover
First recorded in 1870–75; noun, adj. use of verb phrase pull over
Explanation
A pullover is a sweater or sweatshirt that you put on over your head. Don't forget your wool pullover — it's cold outside! You can refer to a jacket as a pullover if you put it on by pulling it over your head, rather than zipping or buttoning it up. The same goes for any other garment, no matter its materials. Pulling it on over your head makes it qualify as a pullover. Originally, a pullover was a type of shoe, and today it's still the name for a shoe prototype, a sample used by shoemakers to check the fit.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There we drove along an icy gravel road that cut into the side of a hill, winding up and up until we found a pullover at which to park.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 23, 2025
Perennially tan with silver hair, deep blue eyes and a body-sculpted physique, he dressed in fitted T-shirts or pullover sweaters more often than a shirt and tie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2025
For years, I’d eaten one after almost every figure skating practice, usually sitting in the front seat of the car still sweating through a fleece pullover.
From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2025
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz put a pullover over his suit; "a sign he's in it for the long haul," an EU diplomat told me.
From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2023
Mitraillette’s pullover does fit, and I have a many-times patched over wool jacket that once belonged to her brother, but the combination of these warm outer garments and the dowdy frock looks dead weird.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
Now swarms scour vintage stores hunting for Coach purses, Champion sweatshirts and Ralph Lauren pullovers popular in the 1990s, as well as vintage Levi’s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
And by the way, as pullovers go, it was a positive experience.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2023
Close by was a display of $27.50 Sofia Jeans for women, from its collaboration with Vergara, along with Reebok shorts and pullovers.
From Reuters ● Jun. 15, 2023
It was the sort of get-up you half hope would catch on widely and supplant the cascade of penitentiary sweatshirts and rumpled pullovers at the daily Zoom.
From New York Times ● Feb. 14, 2022
There were badges, mottoes even, stripes of color in stockings and pullovers.
From "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
