leg-pull

American

[leg-pool] / ˈlɛgˌpʊl /

noun

an amusing hoax, practical joke, or the like.

The entire story was a hilarious leg-pull.

leg-pull British

noun

informal a practical joke or mild deception

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

leg-puller

noun

Etymology

Origin of leg-pull

First recorded in 1910–15

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:

leg-pull

This all sounds very experimental as befitting the James Joyce of Portugal, but does it amount to more than a literary leg-pull?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2026

Determined Lubitsch fans may find her presence there a satiric leg-pull in the Lubitsch tradition.

From Time Magazine Archive

"It was only a leg-pull," was the low-toned explanation.

From The King of Arcadia by Francis Lynde

The Australian has a habit of pulling his mate's leg, and being on his guard against a leg-pull in return.

From Letters from France by C. E. W. (Charles Edwin Woodrow) Bean

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023