• PULBORN
n. heroin …1977 US sl.
• PULBORON
n, heroin …1977 US sl.
• PULCHRITUDE
n. physical beauty; comeliness …1350 literary usage
• PULCHRITUDINOUS
adj. 1854 – beautiful, attractive, graceful, or fine in any way; esp. said of a woman → orig. US
• PULE
n. 1. a small amount of food; a bite, a nibble …E19 Sc.
n. 2. a wisp of smoke …E19 Sc.
n. 3. a whine; a complaint …L19 now Sc. & literary
vb. 1. to cry in a thin or weak voice; to whine, to whimper; to cry querulously; esp. of an infant …1525 now Sc. & literary
vb. 2. to pine or waste away; to have no appetite …M16 now Sc. & literary
vb. 3. to utter in a whining or querulous tone …M16 now Sc. & literary
• PULICIOUS
adj. flea-infested; flea-bitten; caused by or resembling a flea-bite …M19 rare
• PULICOSE
adj. flea-infested; flea-bitten; caused by or resembling a flea-bite …M18 rare
• PULICOSITY
n. the condition of being flea-infested …M17
• PULICOUS
adj. flea-infested; flea-bitten; caused by or resembling a flea-bite …M17 rare
• PULL
n. 1. a gulp of a drink, a puff on a cigarette, etc. …1575 sl.
n. 2. an ulterior and hidden motive …1812 sl.
n. 3. an illicit trick or manipulation …1861 card-sharpers’ usage
n. 4. butter …Amer. World War I sl.
n. 5. an anxious moment …L19 sl.
n. 6. influence; favourable standing with people of authority or influence; special power …1886 colloq.
n. 7. a woman picked up as a sexual partner …1969 sl.
n. 8. in policing, an act of temporarily detaining a suspicious person or vehicle for investigation …1977 UK sl.
n. 8. a woman as a sex object …1985 UK sl.
n. 10. an advantage over another …colloq.
n. 11. the ability to attract; drawing power …colloq.
vb. 1. to shear a sheep, etc. …OE now rare
vb. 2. to fleece, to rob. to cheat …LME obs.
vb. 3. to drink, to take a swallow …1436 sl.
vb. 4. to arrest someone …1811 sl.
vb. 5. to raid …1817 sl.
vb. 6. to steal; to snatch; to cheat …1821 sl.
vb. 7. of a jockey: to deliberately ride a racehorse to lose …1895 Aust. sl.
vb. 8. to do; to perform, effect, esp. a trick or shady act …1916 Amer. sl.
vb. 9. to achieve, to pull off …c1920 Army sl.
vb. 10. to earn as income; to make a sum of money, as by a sale or the like …c1925 Aust. sl.
vb. 11. to attract the attention, the notice, of someone sexually …c1955 sl.
vb. 12. to leave …1960 US sl.
vb. 13. to serve time in prison or in the armed forces …1961 US sl.
vb. 14. to engage in a casual or recreational quest for a sexual partner; to pick up or attract a partner for sexual purposes …1965 UK sl.
vb. 15. to recruit someone into prostitution …1967 US sl.
vb. 16. of police: to stop a vehicle; to stop someone for questioning …1970 UK sl.
vb. 17. to smoke a cigarette …Bk1974 Amer. sl.
vb. 18. of an adult: to buy beer or cigarettes illegally for a minor …2001 Can sl.
• PULL A BONEHEAD
vb. to make a stupid error …1918 Amer. dial.
• PULL A BONEHEAD PLAY
vb. to blunder; to commit an error, esp. an egregious one …1913 Amer. sl.
• PULL A BONER
vb. to blunder; to commit an error, esp. an egregious one; to make a stupid mistake …1913 Amer. sl.
• PULL ABOUT
vb. 1. to masturbate …19C Brit. sl.
vb. 2. to treat roughly or without ceremony …19C colloq. & Eng. dial.
vb. 3. to take liberties with a woman; to play sexually with a woman …c1860 Brit. sl.
• PULL A BRIGHT ONE
vb. to do something clever …Bk1942 Amer. sl.
• PULL A BUST
vb. to make an error in judgement; to be wrong or mistaken …1965 Amer. dial.
• PULL A CLUCK
vb. to die …c1870 sl.
• PULL A COOLIE
vb. to err, to blunder …1970s US homosexual sl.
• PULL A DEAD HORSE
vb. to work for wages already paid …M17 sl.
• PULL A FACE
vb. to distort one’s features, to grimace …1786
• PULL A FADE-OUT
vb. to disappear, to depart, to escape, to vanish …1910s Amer. sl.
• PULL A FASTIE
vb. to do something clever …Bk1942 Amer. sl.
• PULL A FAST ONE
vb. to do something daring (often a criminal act) and hope to get away with it by being smarter, faster, and more deceitful than those set to prevent you; to play a dirty trick; to execute or attempt a deception; to achieve a clever fraud or swindle …1933 Amer. sl.
• PULL A FLANKER
vb. to trick, to swindle …1923 sl.
• PULL A GAG
vb. to do something clever …Bk1942 Amer. sl.
• PULL A HORSE’S HEAD OFF
vb. to check a horse’s progress that he does not win …c1860 sl.
• PULL A JOB
vb. to carry out a crime, esp. stealing …20C Amer. sl.
• PULL A KITE
vb. to look or be serious …19C sl.
• PULL A LONG FACE
vb. to look solemn or dejected …19C colloq.
• PULL AN ACT
vb. to put on a show with the intention of deceiving or defrauding someone …1930s sl.
• PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER
vb. to study the whole night through to ‘cram’ for an exam …1966 Amer. sl.
• PULL AND PUSH
n. an act of masturbation based on the action of masturbating …20C Brit. sl.
• PULL AN EL FOLDO
vb. to lose energy, to wilt, to fade …1962 Amer. sl.
• PULL A NIFTY
vb. to do something clever …Bk1942 Amer. sl.
• PULL A NIFTY ONE
vb. to do something clever …Bk1942 Amer. sl.
• PULL AN OLD HOUSE ON ONE’S HEAD
vb. to get oneself into trouble …1811 obs.
• PULL A ONE-EIGHTY
vb. to make a complete change of direction; to make an about-face …20C Amer. sl.
• PULL APART
vb. to criticize unmercifully; to analyze thoroughly …20C
• PULL A PERSON’S COAT
vb. to give information to a person; to tip a person off …20C US sl.
• PULL A PINT
vb. to operate the controls of an aircraft; to do a pilot’s work …c1930 RAF usage
• PULL A RABBIT
vb. to perform an abortion …M20 US criminals’ sl.
• PULL A ROCK
vb. to make a mistake in baseball …M20 US sl.
• PULL A RODNEY KING
vb. to initiate police brutality …1990s African-American sl.
• PULL A STROKE
vb. 1. to be faster, smarter, quicker (and more deceitful) than your opponent …c1945 sl.
vb. 2. to commit a successful crime …c1950 cant
vb. 3. to do something daring (often a criminal act) and get away with it by being smarter, faster, and more deceitful than those set to prevent you; to play a dirty trick …1970 UK sl.
• PULL A STUNT
vb. to do something clever …Bk1942 Amer. sl.
• PULL A SWIFTIE; PULL A SWIFTY
vb. to execute or attempt a deception; to achieve a clever fraud or swindle; to play a deceptive trick …1945 Aust. sl.
• PULL A TRAILER
vb. to possess large buttocks …1988 US sl.
• PULL A TRAIN
vb. of a woman: to have sexual intercourse with a succession of males …1965 US sl.
• PULL A TRICK
vb. to perform an act of fellatio or pederasty …M20 US sl.
• PULL A VANISHING ACT
vb. to disappear …1923 Amer. sl.
• PULL AWAY
vb. to divert attention from the scene of a crime …1975 Aust. sl.
• PULL-BACK
n. a retarding or repressing act or influence …L16 sl.
• PULL BACON
vb. to make a derisive gesture; to put the thumb to the nose and spread out the fingers …1887 Eng. dial.
• PULL CAPS
vb. to wrangle in an unseemly way; to scuffle, to quarrel; said only of women …1763 colloq.
• PULL-DOWN
n. the moustache that succeeded the ‘nap’ …c1870 society sl.
vb. 1. to depress in health or spirits …arch.
vb. 2. to steal from shop doors …1839 cant
vb. 3. to earn a sum of money, esp. as a wage or salary …1917
vb. 4. to close up a fairground …20C fairground and grafters’ colloq.
vb. 5. to humble, to humiliate
vb. 6. to rob a place …1992 US sl.
• PULL DOWN ONE’S EAR
vb. to get money from a person, esp. as a tip …c1870 Cockneys’ sl.
• PULL DOWN THE BLIND!
int. a catchphrase to couples lovemaking …c1880 Brit. sl.
• PULL DOWN THE SHUTTER
n. butter …L19 rhyming sl.
• PULL DOWN YOUR JACKET!
int. keep cool! don’t get excited! …Bk1896 Amer. sl.
• PULL DOWN YOUR VEST!
int. keep cool! don’t get excited! …Bk1896 Amer. sl.
• PULL EARS
vb. in paragliding: to intentionally collapse both tips of the wing to increase speed …1992 US sl.
• PULLED THROUGH A KNOT-HOLE
adj. tall or long and slender; lanky …Bk1942 Amer. sl.
• PULLED UP
adj. former …1972 US sl.
• PULLED UP BY THE EARS
adj. lacking manners, uncouth, boorish …1965 Amer. dial.
• PULLER
n. 1. a smuggler …Bk1974 Amer. sl.
n. 2. a dealer in stolen or smuggled goods …1956 US sl.
n. 3. a sneak thief …1984 US sl.
n. 4. a crack cocaine user who obsessively or compulsively tugs at different body parts …1992 US sl.
n. 5. a racehorse that strains to run at full speed …1994 US sl.
n. 6. one who smokes marijuana cigarettes …Bk1974 Amer. sl.
• PULLEY BONE
n. the wishbone …1935 Amer. dial.
• PULLEYS
n. suspenders …1945 US sl.
• PULL FACES
vb. to accost celebrities …L20 teenagers’ sl.
• PULL FOOT
vb. to decamp; to run hard; to run away …1818 colloq. arch.
• PULL FOR
vb. to support actively; to encourage …20C
• PULL FOR TALL TIMBER
vb. to run off …M19 sl.
• PULLHAUL
vb. to intrigue, to proselyte …Bk1913-17 Amer. dial.
• PULL HEMP
vb. to be hanged …1921 Amer. dial.
• PULLIE
n. a pullover; a jumper …1984 UK sl.
• PULLIKINS
n. a dentist’s forceps for extracting teeth …1850 Amer. dial.
• PULL-IN
n. a roadside café or refreshment stand at which vehicles can ‘pull in’ …1938
(verbs usually as ‘pull in’)
vb. 1. to earn money …1529 UK sl.
vb. 2. to arrest …1893 sl.
vb. 3. to arrive …1905 Amer. sl.
• PULLING
n. 1. a challenge from a gang, or from one of its members …1959 UK Teddy Boys’ sl.
n. 2. a casual or recreational questing for a sexual partner …2004 UK sl.
• PULLING GEAR
n. in trucking: the gear best suited for climbing a hill …1971 US sl.
• PULLING THE CORD
n. courting …1879 Irish sl.
• PULLING THE DEVIL BY THE TAIL
phr. living on one’s wits; surviving, getting by …1914 Irish sl.
• PULLING TIME
n. in an illegal numbers gambling lottery: the time of day when the winning number is drawn or selected …1949 US sl.
• PULLING WOOL
n. acting in an obsequious manner …1869 Amer. dial.
• PULL IN ONE’S EARS
vb. 1. to duck one’s head; to mind one’s own business; hence, to be quiet …1917 Amer. sl.
vb. 2. to be less aggressive; to moderate oneself …1940s Amer. sl.
vb. 3. to be cautious; to watch out for oneself …Amer. sl.
• PULL IN ONE’S HORNS
vb. to moderate or retract one’s behaviour …1589 sl.
• PULL IN YOUR EARS!
int. 1. look out! …Bk1974 Amer. sl.
int. 2. shut up! …Bk1974 Amer. sl.
int. 3. don’t be so aggressive; reconsider; review the facts …Bk1974 Amer. sl.
• PULL IN YOUR NECK!
int. 1. look out! …Bk1974 Amer. sl.
int. 2. shut up! …Bk1974 Amer. sl.
int. 3. don’t be so aggressive; reconsider; review the facts …Bk1974 Amer. sl.
• PULLION
n. a big, gangling, raw-boned man or woman; a rough, ungainly or worthless type of person; a wretch, a scold …1920 Sc.
• PULLITICIAN
n. a politician with ‘pull’ or influence …Bk1942 Amer. sl.
• PULL IT OFF
vb. 1. to accomplish or obtain, esp. something remarkable, unique, or outrageous …Bk1974 Amer. sl.
vb. 2. to commit a crime …Bk1974 Amer. sl.
• PULL IT OUT
vb. to get on with something; to stop malingering and commit oneself to positive action …1910s sl., orig. Aust.
• PULL LEATHER
vb. to reach for a hand-hold on the saddle horn while riding a bucking horse …1915 US West. sl.
• PULL LIKE A THRESHER
vb. to pull strongly …1866 Eng. dial.
• PULL MY MOUTH
vb. to try to get me to say something in particular …1999 Can. sl.
• PULL OFF
vb. 1. to succeed in doing or effecting something: to perform successfully; to accomplish or obtain, esp. something remarkable, unique, or outrageous …1887 UK sl.
vb. 2. of a male: to masturbate …1922 Irish sl.
vb. 3. to commit a crime …Bk1974 Amer. sl.
• PULLOGUE
n. apples stolen and hidden …Irish sl.
• PULL ON
vb. to tackle someone; to contend with someone to test someone …1963 Aust. sl.
• PULL ONE OFF HIS HIGH HORSE
vb. to humiliate …Bk1942 Amer. sl.
• PULL ONE’S CHAIN
vb. to cause someone to act in an unusual, strange, or unwelcome manner …1968 Amer. dial.
• PULL ONE’S DICK
vb. 1. to masturbate …1980s Aust. & US sl.
vb. 2. to talk nonsense …1980s Aust. & US sl.
• PULL ONESELF ABOUT
vb. to masturbate …19C sl.
• PULL ONESELF OFF
vb. to masturbate…20C sl.
• PULL ONESELF OVER
vb. to eat …L19 sl.
• PULL ONESELF UP BY ONE’S OWN BOOTSTRAPS
vb. to improve one’s position by one’s own efforts …1936 Amer. sl.
• PULL ONE’S FINGER OUT
vb. to get moving; to demand effort from a lazy person; to stop malingering and commit oneself to positive action …1910s sl., orig. Aust.
• PULL ONE’S FREIGHT
vb. to depart quickly, to leave promptly …M19 US sl.
• PULL ONE’S HANDKERCHIEF
vb. to make (sexual) advances …L19 US teen sl.
• PULL ONE’S HEAD OUT
vb. to pay attention to one’s affairs; to wake up …1960s Amer. students’ sl.
• PULL ONE’S PETER
vb. of a male: to masturbate …19C sl.
• PULL ONE’S PUD
vb. of a male: to masturbate …M20 sl.
• PULL ONE’S PUDDING
vb. of a male: to masturbate …19C sl.
• PULL ONE’S PUNCHES
vb. to put less than one’s full force into delivering blows; fig. to use less force than one is capable of exerting; to be gentle or lenient, esp. in criticism or punishment …1934 sl.
• PULL ONE’S WEIGHT
vb. to take one’s share of responsibility
• PULL ONE’S WIRE
vb. of a male: to masturbate …19C sl.
• PULL-ONS
n. women’s underpants of the type that pull on and need no tying …20C Brit. & US colloq.
• PULL ON SHANK’S HORSES
vb. to go on foot …1965 Amer. dial.
• PULL ON THE ROPE
vb. to masturbate …1972 US sl.
• PULL OUT
vb. to leave, to depart …c1880 Amer. colloq.
• PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS
vb. to apply maximum effort to the task in hand …1974 UK sl.
• PULL OUT OF
vb. to be released …1979 US sl.
• PULL OUT OF THE FIRE
vb. to save from failure or disaster; to turn a potentially disastrous situation into a successful one; to turn defeat into victory; to rescue …Bk1974 Amer. sl.
• PULL-OVER
n. 1. a gullible person; a dupe …Bk1942 Amer. sl.
n. 2. a man who is regarded as easy to persuade to copulate …M20 Amer. colloq.
• PULL PUD
vb. of a male: to masturbate …1994 UK sl.
• PULL RANK
vb. to masturbate …20C Brit. rhyming sl. for ‘wank’
• PULL ROUND
vb. to recover health …1891 sl.
• PULL SOMEONE IN
vb. to arrest someone …1891 Amer. sl.
• PULL SOMEONE’S CHAIN
vb. 1. to deceive, to fool, to victimize …Amer. sl.
vb. 2. to elicit someone’s anger or annoyance, esp. deliberately; to nag; to upset someone, esp. by teasing or harassing; …1962 US sl.
• PULL SOMEONE’S COAT
vb. 1. to give information …1946 African-American sl.
vb. 2. to warn someone, to alert someone …1954 US sl.
• PULL SOMEONE’S COVERS
vb. to reveal a person’s true character …1970 US sl.
• PULL SOMEONE’S LEG
vb. 1. to good-naturedly hoax or deceive someone …1888 UK sl.
vb. 2. to tease someone; to make fun of someone …1888 UK sl.
• PULL SOMEONE’S PISSER
vb. to make fun of someone or something; to mock, to tease; to good-naturedly hoax or deceive someone …1969 Brit. sl.
• PULL SOMEONE’S PLONKER
vb. 1. to waste time …1982 UK sl.
vb. 2. to fool someone; to tease someone; to take a liberty with someone…2000 UK sl.
• PULL SOMEONE’S STRING
vb. 1. to upset someone, esp. by teasing or harassing; to anger someone …1980s Amer. sl.
vb. 2. to deceive, to fool, to victimize …20C Amer. sl.
• PULL SOMEONE’S TIT
vb. to good-naturedly hoax or deceive someone; to make a fool of someone …1959 Aust. sl.
• PULL SOMETHING ON A PERSON
vb. to deceive someone …Bk1974 Amer. colloq.
• PULL SOMETHING OUT OF ONE’S ASS
vb. to invent or produce something seemingly from nowhere; to succeed narrowly …1974 Amer. sl.
• PULL THE CHAIN
int. stop talking rubbish! …1921 US sl.
vb. to make a decisive end, to end all negotiations; hence, to take decisive action, esp. against a person …1935 US sl.
• PULL THE CHOO-CHOO
vb. of a woman: to do the sex act with several men serially …1965 Amer. motorcyclists’ sl.
• PULL THE FEATHERS OFF (A PERSON’S FAME)
vb. to detract from …c1430 obs.
• PULL THE HEAD OFF IT
vb. of a male: to masturbate …2002 UK sl.
• PULL THE JUICE
vb. to turn off an electric light …Bk1942 Amer. sl.
• PULL THE LABOURING OAR
vb. to take a great or arduous share of the work …1900
• PULL THE MONKEY
vb. to pull a rubber disc through a cess drain in order to clean the drain …1970 UK sl.
• PULL THE MOODY
vb. to sulk …1969 Brit. sl.
• PULL THE OTHER ONE!
int. an expression of disbelief, esp. with reference to pulling a person’s leg …1964 colloq.
• PULL THE OTHER ONE – IT’S GOT BELLS ON (IT)!
int. used as sarcastic response; an expression of disbelief, esp. with reference to pulling a person’s leg …1964 UK sl.
• PULL THE PIN
vb. to resign or retire from a job …1927 US sl.
• PULL THE PLUG
vb. 1. in submarining: to dive …1948 US sl.
vb. 2. to commit suicide …1981 sl.
vb. 3. to stop; to finish …1988 UK sl.
• PULL THE REIN
vb. to advise …1989 Aust. sl.
• PULL THE RUG OUT
vb. to disturb the status quo …1974 UK sl.
• PULL THE RUG (OUT) FROM UNDER
vb. to unexpectedly withdraw support from; to destroy the basis of; to betray …colloq.
• PULL THE TRAIN
vb. of a woman: to do the sex act with several men serially …1965 Amer. motorcyclists’ sl.
• PULL THE WOOL OVER SOMEONE’S EYES
vb. to deceive someone, esp. as regards the deceiver’s intentions …1842 US sl.
• PULL THE WRONG PIG BY THE EAR
vb. to make a mistake …1546 colloq.
• PULL THE WRONG SOW BY THE EAR
vb. to make a mistake …1546 colloq.
• PULL-THROUGH
n. a soldier’s term for a tall, thin person …Brit. sl.
vb. (usually as ‘pull through’) a Jew …1974 UK rhyming sl.
• PULL TIME
vb. to be sentenced to imprisonment …1950 US sl.
• PULL UP
vb. 1. to arrest …1812 sl.
vb. 2. to reprimand …1836 sl.
vb. 3. among travellers, to stop …Bk1905 Amer. dial.
vb. 4. of a jockey: to deliberately ride a racehorse to lose …1936 Aust. sl.
vb. 5. to stop doing something …1972 US sl.
• PULL UP STAKES
vb. to depart; to move house …1961 Aust. sl.
• PULLUS
n. a young bird; a chick …1765
• PULL WIRE
vb. of a male: to masturbate …20C sl.
• PULL WIRES
vb. to use personal influence to achieve a desired outcome …1984 UK sl.
• PULL WOOL OVER THE EYES
vb. to deceive …Bk1905 Amer. dial.
• PULLY
n. a pullover; a jumper …1984 UK sl.
• PULLY-BONE
n. a wishbone …1906 Amer. dial.
• PULL YOUR FINGER OUT!
int. hurry up! …20C Brit. & US sl., orig. military usage
• PULL YOUR HEAD IN!
int. mind your own business! …1942 Aust. sl.
• PULL YOUR OWN LITTLE RED WAGON
phr. mind your own business …1966 Amer. dial.
• PULL YOUR PUD
vb. of male: to masturbate …1944 UK sl.
• PULL YOUR PUDDEN
vb. of male: to masturbate …1944 UK sl.
• PULL YOUR PUDDING
vb. of male: to masturbate …1944 UK sl.
• PULL YOUR PUNCHES
vb. to exercise moderation, esp. in punishment or blame …1934 UK sl.
• PULL YOUR WIRE
vb. of a male: to masturbate …1937 UK sl.
Back to INDEX P
Back to DICTIONARY
Lexicophilia 