Etymology : Middle English halen to pull, from Old French haler, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch halen to pull; akin to Old English geholian to obtain
Pronunciation : 'hol
Function : verb
Date : 13th century
1. dragging, tugging, pulling; transporting; load which is transported; act of taking or acquiring; plunder, loot, objects which are taken or acquired. drag, tug, pull; transport, carry; transport goods; arrive, reach a destination (after much effort); change direction (Nautical). haul\haul\, v. i.
2. (naut.) to change the direction of a ship by hauling the wind. see:
under haul, v. t. i hauled up for it, and found it to be an island. ook.
3. to pull apart, as oxen sometimes do when yoked.
4. To pull or draw with force; to drag.
5. To transport by drawing, as with horses or oxen; as, to haul logs to a sawmill.
6. To change the direction of a ship by hauling the wind.
7. See under Haul, v. t.
8. To pull apart, as oxen sometimes do when yoked.
9. A pulling with force; a violent pull.
10. A single draught of a net; as, to catch a hundred fish at a haul.
11. That which is caught, taken, or gained at once, as by hauling a net.
12. Transportation by hauling; the distance through which anything is hauled, as freight in a railroad car; as, a long haul or short haul.
13. A bundle of about four hundred threads, to be tarred. transport in a vehicle; "haul stones from the quarry in a truck"; "haul vegetables to the market" draw slowly or heavily; "haul stones"; "haul nets".
14. 1. If you haul something which is heavy or difficult to move, you move it using a lot of effort. A crane had to be used to haul the car out of the stream She hauled up her bedroom window and leaned out.
15. If someone is hauled before a court or someone in authority, they are made to appear before them because they are accused of having done something wrong. He was hauled before the managing director and fired. Haul up means the same as haul. He was hauled up before the Board of Trustees.
16. A haul is a quantity of things that are stolen, or a quantity of stolen or illegal goods found by police or customs. The size of the drugs haul shows that the international trade in heroin is still flourishing.
17. If you say that a task or a journey is a long haul, you mean that it takes a long time and a lot of effort. Revitalising the Romanian economy will be a long haul. see also:
long-haul.