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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

The Woodbridge High senior started climbing a door at home at age 4 trying to reach a pull-up bar.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 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

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

After coming through his opening match with little fuss, the questions then turned to how Alcaraz would pull up physically two days later.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Paramount suggested it would pull up stakes from its Melrose Avenue film studio as soon as this fall.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

“My sister and I would pull up a couple of chairs together and fall asleep while listening to the music in the Jalapa bar where we all lived together.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

“When I pull up in the Roadmaster, I am the only one out of probably 75 cars in a Woody Wagon,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

I can’t figure what to do about it, so I climb in the boat and pull up the floorboards and look at it from that side.

From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

I’ll admit: I didn’t ask him to do push-ups and pull-ups.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2025

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

We’re both fairly tall, so we could just tiptoe and grab hold of the monkey bars, but I mini-hop and lift myself up, like I’m doing pull-ups.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

Related Words

• arrive
• brake
• pause