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• pull-up
  pull-up

  noun

  an exercise consisting of chinning oneself, as on a horizontal bar attached at each end to a doorpost.
• pull up
  pull up

  verb

  (tr) to remove by the roots

pull-up

American  

[pool-uhp] / ˈpʊlˌʌp /

Or pullup

noun

• pull-ups
  plural

1. an exercise consisting of chinning oneself, as on a horizontal bar attached at each end to a doorpost.

2. a flight maneuver in which an aircraft climbs sharply from level flight.

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pull up British  

verb

1. (tr) to remove by the roots

2. to move level (with) or ahead (of) or cause to move level (with) or ahead (of), esp in a race

3. to stop

4. (tr) to rebuke

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noun

1. an exercise in which the body is raised up by the arms pulling on a horizontal bar fixed above the head

2. old-fashioned a roadside café

pull up Idioms  

1. Stop or cause to stop, as in He pulled up his horse , or They pulled up in front of the door . [Early 1600s]

2. Catch up, advance in relation to others, as in a race. For example, She was behind at the start, but she quickly pulled up . [Late 1800s] Also see pull oneself up by one's bootstraps .

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pull-ups
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pull-up

First recorded in 1850–55; noun use of verb phrase pull up

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pull-up pull up pull-ups

At the other end, she swiped the ball from a driving player, drove to the arc and hit a pull-up 3-pointer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

As long as Hegseth keeps his chest-thumping and pull-up contests in the land of make-believe, these men are happy.

From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2026

Air Force, some members of which strolled around the event uniformed and at booths hosting pull-up challenges and recruitment efforts near the food vendors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2025

That was during lockdown and his home gym consisted of a pull-up bar, a few weights, and a plastic bench in his garage.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2025

His pull-up jumper floats through the net, then everything goes slow motion: the ball, the player .

From "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander

The threat to pull up stakes has created a disconnect after Ellison has spent more than a year touting how his family’s growing collection of media properties would strengthen traditional Hollywood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

When I pull up at the forecourt I just kind of close my eyes and hope for the best.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

“I would pull up an oboe sound, and he’d play it,” says Barton, “and it was sort of a childlike thing where he was just like, ‘Oh, this allows me to hear my ideas.’”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

“It’s moving so fast on my Instagram right now that my analytics will not pull up the correct numbers,” Lamb said of her post.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

I’m a mix of sad and mad when I see Mama pull up.

From "Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero" by Kelly J. Baptist

“I can do 25 pull-ups that can impress you.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

The 30-second spot features a young man in a park attempting pull-ups, who asks a muscular bystander about achieving six-pack abs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026

It’s in service of crank conspiracy theories, quack wellness influencers and weird dystopian visions of supermen doing pull-ups to demonstrate their patriotism.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2025

"I thought this was ridiculous so I went and got a bag and packed his pull-ups – and I think they realised then it was never going to work for an autistic non-verbal child."

From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2025

Actually, he’d gotten up at least a dozen times to do pull-ups on a beam and he’d lifted logs for half an hour.

From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker

Related Words

• arrive
• brake
• pause