haul

1. to pull or draw with force; move by drawing; drag:

   They hauled the boat up onto the beach.

2. to cart or transport; carry:

   The locomotive hauled freight over the Wasatch Mountains between Ogden, Utah, and Green River, Wyoming.

3. to lower; cause to descend (often followed by down ):

   As the students gathered around the flagpole, the school custodian hauled down the flag.

4. to bring before an authority (often followed by before, in, to, into, etc.):

   He was hauled before the judge.

   She hauled me into the principal’s office.

1. to pull or tug with force or effort:

   The sailors hauled on the oars as hard as they could.

2. to go or come to a place, especially with effort:

   After much carousing in the streets, they finally hauled into the tavern.

3. to cart or transport, or to move freight commercially:

   Ours is one of many Canadian trucking companies hauling south of the border.

4. Nautical.
   1. to sail, as in a particular direction:

      They sailed to the west of Corsica, and then hauled south again.

   2. to draw or pull a vessel up on land, as for repairs or storage.
   3. (of the wind) to shift to a direction closer to the heading of a vessel ( veer ).
   4. (of the wind) to change direction, shift, or veer (often followed by round or to ):

      During the early morning hours the wind hauled northward and increased in intensity, with accompanying heavy seas.

1. a strong pull or tug:

   He felt a sudden haul on the other end of the rope.

2. an act or instance of transporting something, or the load or quantity transported:

   You have so little stuff to move, I can probably do it in two hauls with my pickup.

3. the distance or route over which anything is transported or carried:

   I’ve been using this truck for a year now on a weekly 30-mile haul.

4. Fishing.
   1. the quantity of fish taken at one draft of the net:

      We got such a huge haul of fish that we could hardly carry them home.

   2. the draft of a fishing net.
   3. the place where a seine is hauled.
5. the act of taking or acquiring something, or something taken or acquired:

   The thieves' haul included several valuable paintings.

6. Digital Technology. a video, photo, or report of something taken or acquired:

   He shops the flea markets over the weekend and then posts his haul on Monday afternoon.

verb phrase

1. 1. Nautical. to change a ship's course so as to get farther off from an object.
   2. to withdraw; leave.
   3. Informal. to draw back the arm in order to strike; prepare to deal a blow:

      He hauled off and struck the insolent lieutenant a blow to the chin.

2. 1. to bring before a superior for judgment or reprimand; call to account:

      They were hauled up on a drug trafficking charge.

   2. to come to a halt; stop:

      As night was falling we finally hauled up at an old farmhouse owned by a friendly couple.

   3. Nautical. to change the course of (a sailing vessel) so as to sail closer to the wind.
   4. Nautical. (of a sailing vessel) to come closer to the wind.
   5. Nautical. (of a vessel) to come to a halt.