▪ I. haul, v.
(hɔːl)
Forms: 6–8 hall, 7 hawle, 7–9 hawl, 7– haul.
[A variant spelling of hale v.1, in 16th c. also hall; representing a different phonetic development of ME. hale (hɑːl): cf. small, beside OE. smæl, ME. smal, smale, Sc. smale, smail. For the spelling au, aw, which dates only from 17th c., cf. crawl.]
1. a. trans. To pull or draw with force or violence; to drag, tug (esp. in nautical language).
| 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 110 If hee hung backe, hee shall be halled forward. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. v. 37 Thy Dol..is in base Durance, and contagious prison: Hall'd thither by most Mechanicall and durty hand. 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 27 Heaue out your top-sayles, hawle your sheates. 1667 Dryden Tempest i. i, All within, Haul catt, haul catt, haul catt, haul. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. 17 Hawl down both Top-sails close. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 352 See him hall'd from one judgement seat to another. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. iii. (Globe) 664/1 Didn't I see him hawl you about like a milk-maid? 1798 Coleridge Satyrane's Lett. i. in Biog. Lit. (1882) 246 We hauled anchor, and passed gently up the river. 1810 Sporting Mag. XXXVI. 264 They were pushing and hawling every body about. 1853 Reade Chr. Johnstone 160 He began to haul in the net. 1885 Manch. Exam. 24 Feb. 5/2 [They] would rather be stoned and hauled before the magistrates. |
| fig. 1725 N. Robinson Th. Physick 141 There is no Necessity always to hall in fermenting Humours to cause pain. |
† b. To search, examine thoroughly, overhaul (cf. drag). Obs. rare.
| 1666 Wood Life (O.H.S.) II. 83 Continually hauling taverns and alehouses [for undergraduates]. |
† c. colloq. To worry, torment, pester. Obs.
| 1678 R. Barclay Apol. Quakers xiv. v. 506 They went up and down..preaching..tho' daily beaten, whipped, bruised, halled, and imprisoned therefore. 1737 Whiston Josephus, Antiq. xix. i. §1 Caius..pulled and hauled its other citizens, especially the senate. 1743 Gay Distress'd Wife v. Wks. (1772) 328, I won't be haul'd and worried. |
d. colloq. To bring up for a reprimand, to call to account. Also, to haul over the coals (see coal n. 12).
| 1795 Nelson 25 Nov. in Nicolas Disp. (1845) II. 107, I think the Admiral will be hauled over the coals for not letting me have ships. 1865 Livingstone Zambesi vi. 142 The first native..refused to sell his fowls at the Government prices [and] was hauled up before the irate commandant. 1882 B. D. W. Ramsay Recoll. Mil. Serv. I. ix. 215 They were all young officers..and probably at times require to be hauled up sharply. 1893 St. Aubyn Junior Dean xxix. 233 He was what, in figurate undergraduate language is termed ‘hauled’. |
e. To transport by cart or other conveyance; to cart, carry.
| 1741 New Hampshire Probate Rec. III. 43 Her fire wood from time to time shall be haul'd to Said house. 1787 Winter Syst. Husb. 101 The expence of halling must be governed by the distance they are halled from. 1814 H. M. Brackenridge Views Louisiana 141 They are sometimes employed in hauling lead from the mines. 1852 Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. III. 179, I haul it [sc. manure] out in the fall, spread it and plow it in immediately after. 1880 Harper's Mag. Sept. 619/2 In winter I haul logs, and in summer I haul mealers. 1887 Congress. Rec. 10 Jan. 484/1 There is not one-tenth part of the risk in hauling dressed beef that there is in hauling live animals. 1918 F. Hackett Ireland ii. 46 The more fish was caught..the less any one of them was worth. And when it came to salting them or hauling them, the same curse was in it. 1970 Washington Post 30 Sept. B13/4 The company sought a million-dollar contract with Ft. Rucker, Ala., to haul gasoline. |
| absol. 1871 R. L. Dashwood Chiploquorgan viii. 117 We had fifteen miles to haul along a lumber road to the mouth of Rocky brook. 1883 J. Hay Bread-winners vi. 96 You know Clinsty Fore, that hauls for the Safe Company? 1933 E. Merrick True North 338 We hauled across lots of yellow, slushy places. |
f. intr. With out, up. Of bachelor seals: to come out of the water to rest on the hauling-grounds.
| 1869 Overland Monthly III. 39 To ascertain if any elephant-seal had ‘hauled up’ on the beach. 1894 Kipling Jungle Bk. 98 I've often thought we should be much happier if we hauled out at Otter Island. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 488/1 The young males, or bachelors, haul out to rest and sleep on beaches adjacent to, but distinct from, the breeding-grounds. 1967 Listener 6 Apr. 459/1 Adult male seals hold territories on beaches where a population hauls out for breeding. |
2. a. intr. To pull, tug (at or upon something).
| 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 115 All Hands haul'd. 1791 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsem. ix. (1809) 106, I..pull'd, and haul'd, to try to turn him [a horse]. 1857 Lawrence Guy Liv. xiv. 129 He was hauling nervously at the reins. 1859 Reade Love me Little II. iv. 177 He..made the rope fast to her [the schooner's] thwart, then hauling upon it, brought the lugger alongside. |
b. intr. for refl. in passive sense.
| 1797 Nelson in A. Duncan Life (1806) 42, I found..the Spanish ensign hauling down. 1871 Palgrave Lyr. Poems 138 Till their flag hauls down to the foe. |
3. a. Naut. (intr.) To trim the sails, etc. of a ship so as to sail nearer to the wind (also to haul up); hence more generally, to change or turn the ship's course; to sail in a certain course. (Also trans. with the ship as object; also, to sail along a coast.)
| 1557 W. Towrson in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 113 We halled off our ships to fetch the winde as neer as wee coulde. a 1599 H. Smith Ibid. (1599) I. 445 The wind being at West, we did hall the coast East northeast, and East..Wee..hald along the coast East and East southeast, and all the same night wee halled Southeast, and Southeast by East. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 51 He halled into the Harbour, close to the Island. 1743 Woodroofe in Hanway Trav. (1762) I. ii. xxiii. 101 We haul'd round Zeloi island for Baku bay. Ibid. iv. lix. 272 Hauling out north north⁓east. 1806 A. Duncan Nelson 48 The enemy..hauled up on the Terpsichore's weather-beam. 1858 C. Kirton in Merc. Marine Mag. V. 209, I hauled in to S. 23° E., true. Ibid., I told the Chief Officer to haul her off four points. |
b. Phr. to haul upon or to the wind, also trans. to haul (a ship) on a wind, and to haul the (her, our, etc.) wind: to bring the ship round so as to sail closer to the wind.
| 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 328 Unwilling to run..into the enemy's clutches, I hauled again on a wind. 1762 Falconer Shipwr. ii. Argt., The ship bears up: again hauls upon the wind. 1768 Wales in Phil. Trans. LX. 112 At 15 h. we hauled the wind to the south⁓ward. 1797 Nelson in A. Duncan Life (1806) 40 The Spanish fleet..hauled to the wind on the larboard tack. 1806 A. Duncan Nelson 24 The enemy hauled their wind and made off. 1829 Marryat F. Mildmay xxi, My intention is to..haul dead on a wind. 1835 ― Pirate xiv, The Enterprise took in her topmast studding-sail, and hauled her wind. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., Haul your wind, or haul to the wind, signifies that the ship's head is to be brought nearer to the wind. |
c. transf. and fig. (intr. and trans.) To change one's course of action; to withdraw, retreat; to make one's way, to come or go. to haul off (chiefly U.S.), to withdraw or draw back a little before completing an action of any kind; to haul out (U.S.), to go out, depart.
| 1802 T. Jefferson Writ. (1830) III. 495 He took it in mortal offence, and from that moment has been hauling off to his former enemies. 1825 Blackw. Mag. XVIII. 177 Such works haul but slowly into this northern region. 1858 B. Taylor Northern Trav. xxii. 230 The morning looked..threatening, but the clouds gradually hauled off to the eastward. 1866 W. H. Jackson Diary 30 July in Nebr. Hist. Mag. (1932) XIII. 156 Hauled out before sunrise and corralled at the Springs by 9 o'clock. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Haul my wind, an expression when an individual is going upon a new line of action. 1870 ‘Mark Twain’ in Galaxy Oct. 572/2 Suppose he should take deliberate aim and ‘haul off’ and fetch me with the butt-end of it [sc. a gun]? 1902 A. D. McFaul Ike Glidden xxv. 282 The train hauled out while the officer was taking him into custody. 1930 D. Runyon in Collier's 20 Dec. 32/3 Then Lily hauls off and gives me a big kiss right in the smush. 1960 Wodehouse Jeeves in Offing vi. 63, I shall have no alternative but to haul off and bop him one. Ibid. vii. 71 A cow that looked as if it were planning, next time it was milked, to haul off and let the milkmaid have it in the lower ribs. 1961 M. McLuhan Mech. Bride 60/2 Looks like he's going to haul off and kiss her. |
4. Of the wind: To change direction, shift, veer.
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Echars, a wind that veers and hauls; a light and variable wind. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxi. 111 The wind hauled to the south⁓ward. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 123 The wind also is hauling round to the right quarter. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Haul round, said when the wind is gradually shifting towards any particular point of the compass. |
▸ colloq. (chiefly U.S.). to haul ass: to get going, get a move on; to move swiftly, hurry up.
| 1918 L. G. Noyes Gloss. U.S. Navy Slang (MS) To haul ass, meaning ‘to leave’ or ‘to get out’. 1923J. O'Hara Let. 26 May in M. Bruccoli Sel. Lett. 10 I'd better haul ass and get into a tub. 1957 J. Lee Career Come on, baby, we gotta haul ass. 1979 Washington Post 21 Oct. a12/2 The guy just backed up, pulled out onto the street, and hauled ass. 1994 A. Heckerling Clueless (Green Rev. Pages) 21 Mr. Hall, I was surfing the crimson wave so I had to haul ass to the ladies. |
▪ II. haul, n.
(hɔːl)
[f. prec. vb.]
1. a. The act of hauling; a pull, a tug; spec. the draught of a fishing-net.
| 1670 W. Hacke Collect. Voy. (1699) II. 82 We caught in our Sean at one Haul no less than seven Hundred. 1726 Thomson Winter 627 The leap, the slap, the haul. 1780 A. Young Tour Irel. I. 220* The largest hawl, taking 1452 salmon. 1868 Peard Water-Farm. viii. 87 This first haul of the net. 1871 Proctor Light Sc. 156 On October 5th..both the sun and the moon will give a particularly vigorous haul upon the earth's waters. |
b. With adv., as haul-down, the act of hauling down. haul-down promotion: see hauling vbl. n. b, quot. 1867.
| 1882 Navy List July 512/2 Haul down promotions abolished by Circular 75, of 10th November 1874. |
c. spec. The distance over which something is hauled, freq. in phr. long (or short) haul. Also fig.
| 1877 W. Rockefeller Let. 17 Oct. in Philadelphia Inquirer (1879) 8 Mar. 2/c We will endeavor to deliver the oil to you at points from which you will have short hauls. 1884 Congress. Rec. 18 June 5314/2 The farmer has to pay for short hauls just about what they ask him [etc.]... We must study the effect..of short hauls and long hauls. 1905 Terms Forestry & Logging 39 Haul, in logging, the distance and route over which teams must go between two given points, as between the yard or skid way and the landing. 1909 H. N. Casson Life C. H. McCormick 213 Today it is not the long haul of wheat, but the short haul, that is more expensive. 1936 L. C. Douglas White Banners vi. 123 Florid, peaches-and-cream blondes weren't intended for long hauls of worry. 1957 Sunday Times 13 Oct. 5/6 A new building for long⁓haul traffic is recommended. 1962 Listener 15 Feb. 307/1 Both points of view are necessary at different times, but the C.R.O. one is designed for the long haul. 1968 Times 1 Nov. 10/3 Improvements would be certainly possible; but he gave a warning: ‘This is a long haul. You cannot suddenly change the existing systems.’ 1973 Daily Tel. 15 Jan. 19/1 Everyone knows that you don't just buy investment trusts for the short haul. |
2. concr. a. A draught of fish.
| 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. xx. (1860) 212 The entire haul consisted of rather more than twelve barrels. 1885 L'pool Daily Post 30 June 4/8 When they make good hauls of fish the price immediately drops. |
b. Rope-making. (See first quot.)
| 1794 Rigging & Seamanship I. 55 A Haul of Yarn is about four-hundred threads, when warped off the winches, with a slight turn in it, to be tarred. Ibid. 61 It is generally tarred in hauls, as other rope. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. s.v., The haul is dragged through a grip, gape, or sliding nipper which expresses superfluous tar. |
3. fig. The act of ‘drawing’ or making a large profit or valuable acquisition of any kind; concr. the thing or amount thus gained or acquired.
| 1776 A. Adams in J. Q. Adams' Fam. Lett. (1876) 220, I think we made a fine haul of prizes. 1826 Scott Jrnl. (1890) I. 176 If I can but wheedle him out of a few anecdotes, it would be a great haul. 1891 Lit. World 24 Apr. 396/1 {pstlg}25,000 is said to be the great haul made..as the result of his recent lecturing tour. |
4. Comb. haul-rope, a rope for hauling something; haul-seine, a large seine that is hauled, a drag-seine.
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., Haul Seine. 1890 O. Crawfurd Round Calendar in Portugal 32 I have seen the whole population of a coast hamlet..at the haul-ropes, and drawing home..the harvest of the sea. |