haul

haul¹ [ho:l US ho:l] v [T]

[Date: 1200-1300; : French; Origin: haler 'to pull']

1.) to pull something heavy with a continuous steady movement

haul sth off/onto/out of etc sth

▪ She hauled her backpack onto her back.

▪ the steam locomotive which hauled the train

▪ I hauled the door shut behind me.

2.) haul yourself up/out of sth etc

a) to move somewhere with a lot of effort, especially because you are injured or tired

▪ Patrick hauled himself painfully up the stairs.

b) to succeed in achieving a higher position in society, in a competition etc

▪ He is confident that the club can haul themselves further up the league.

3.) haul sb over the coals

BrE to criticize someone severely because they have done something wrong

American Equivalent: rake somebody over the coals

4.) haul off and hit/punch/kick sb

AmE informal to try to hit someone very hard

5.) haul ass

AmE spoken not polite to hurry

haul off [haul sb off] phr v

to force someone to go somewhere that they do not want to go, especially to prison

▪ Police handcuffed him and hauled him off to jail.

haul up [haul sb up] phr v

to officially bring someone to a court of law to be judged

haul somebody up before/in front of

▪ Campbell was hauled up in front of the magistrate.

haul ²

haul² n

1.) a large amount of illegal or stolen goods

▪ The gang escaped with a haul worth hundreds of pounds.

haul of

▪ A haul of stolen cars has been seized by police officers.

2.) long/slow haul

something that takes a lot of time and effort

▪ At last we've won our freedom but it's been a long bitter haul .

3.) the amount of fish caught when fishing with a net

→↑long-haul, ↑short-haul