Meaning

(transitive) To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or oxen, or a motor vehicle..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or oxen, or a motor vehicle.
2. (transitive) To draw or pull something heavy.
3. (transitive) To carry or transport something, with a connotation that the item is heavy or otherwise difficult to move.
4. (transitive, figuratively) To drag, to pull, to tug.
5. (transitive, figuratively) Followed by up: to summon to be disciplined or held answerable for something.
6. (intransitive) To pull apart, as oxen sometimes do when yoked.
7. (ambitransitive, nautical) To steer (a vessel) closer to the wind.
8. (intransitive, nautical) Of the wind: to shift fore (more towards the bow).

Example Sentences

to haul logs to a sawmill

When I was seven or eight years of age, I began hauling all the wood used in the house and shops. I could not load it on the wagons, of course, at the time, but I could drive [the horses], and the choppers would load, and some one at the house unload.

Thither they bent, and haul'd their ſhip to land, / (The crooked keel divides the yellow ſand) / Ulyſſes ſleeping on his couch they bore, / And gently plac'd him on the rocky ſhore.

A spacious breach we make, and Troy's proud wall, / Built by the gods, by her own hands doth fall; / Thus all their help to their own ruin give, / Some draw with cords and some the monster drive / With rolls and levers: thus our works it climbs, / Big with our fate; the youth with songs and rhimes, / Some dance, some haul the rope; at last let down / It enters with a thundering noise the town, / Oh Troy, the seat of gods, in war renown'd!

Passing through the entrance of the harbour, the admiral proceeds to manœuvre his flet, to the great gratification of the host of spectators, […] [H]e hoists Dutch colours and fires two guns. This is the signal for a general chase after an imaginary enemy, a chase which continues till he hauls down his flag and fires another gun.

The cable used for hauling the wagons on the incline may still be seen, but several of the guiding rollers have disappeared.

United lost [Chris] Smalling to a second yellow card for hauling back Yannick Bolasie in extra time – but [Jesse] Lingard took the trophy to Old Trafford when he lashed home a first-time strike from Damien Delaney's half-clearance after 110 minutes.

The California fruit trade is all handled by the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe railroads. The last named road operates its own refrigerator cars and fixes its own rates. It hauls fully half of the traffic and it is therefore evident that the "Beef Trust" has no voice or power in the matter. […] The same condition exists with the melon grower of Colorado, except that in this case the Santa Fe road hauls nearly all of the product.

Word Forms

• hauls
• hauling
• hauled

Synonyms for haul

Antonyms for haul

Related Words

When Should You Use Haul?

Use haul when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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