pulling

PUUL-ing/ˈpʊlɪŋ/

2 meanings of pulling

1
verb
Present participle of pull.
The horses were pulling the heavy cart up the steep hill.
Pulling at the tangled knot only made it tighter.
Note
One spelling, two jobs: the participle of progressive tenses (the horses were pulling) and the gerund, which sits where a noun would but keeps its verb habits. As a gerund it still takes a direct object, as in pulling weeds or pulling a product from shelves, whereas the noun for the act needs of: the pulling of the net. It carries the slang of pull too: British and Irish for winning someone over for sex, American for attracting a date.
2
nouncountable or uncountable
An act of drawing or dragging something by means of applied force.
A steady pulling on the oars moved the small boat forward.
The pulling of the net brought the day's catch onto the deck.
Similarhauling, tugging, drawing, dragging
Oppositepushing
Note
Already a noun in Middle English, where scribes spelled it pulling, pullyng or pullynge. Because it is a true noun rather than a verb form, it can take a plural, pullings, and an article or adjective in front: a steady pulling, repeated pullings. That countable use, naming separate acts, is the clearest sign the word is working as this noun and not as the gerund.

pulling is a form of pull

pull, verb: To apply force to draw someone or something toward oneself or in a particular direction, including picking plants or produce this way. Full entry

Forms: pullpulls he/she/itpulling -ing formpulled past tense, past participle
Spelling: pull → pulling: add -ing

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Origins

Meaning 1

From Middle English *pullynge, equivalent to "pull" plus the suffix "-ing".

Meaning 2

From Middle English pulling, also spelled pullyng or pullynge, equivalent to "pull" plus the suffix "-ing".