Antonyms for pull down

Grammar : Verb

Spell : poo l-doun

Phonetic Transcription : ˈpʊlˌdaʊn

Definition of pull down

Origin : c.1300, "to move forcibly by pulling, to drag," from Old English pullian "to pluck off (wool), to draw out," of unknown origin, perhaps related to Low German pulen "remove the shell or husk," Frisian pûlje "to shell, husk," Middle Dutch polen "to peel, strip," Icelandic pula "work hard."
Early 14c. as "to pick, pull off, gather" (fruit, flowers, berries, leaves, petals, etc.); mid-14c. as "to uproot, pull up" (of teeth, weeds, etc.). Sense of "to draw, attract" (to oneself) is from c.1400; sense of "to pluck at with the fingers" is from c.1400. Meaning "tear to pieces" is mid-15c. By late 16c. it had replaced draw in these senses. Related: Pulled; pulling.
Common in slang usages 19c.-20c.; Bartlett (1859) has to pull foot "walk fast; run;" pull it "to run." To pull up "check a course of action" is from 1808, figurative of the lifting of the reins in horse-riding. To pull (someone's) chain in figurative sense is from 1974, perhaps on the notion of a captive animal; the expression was also used for "to contact" (someone), on the notion of the chain that operates a signaling mechanism.
To pull (someone's) leg is from 1882, perhaps on notion of "playfully tripping" (cf. pull the long bow "exaggerate," 1830, and pulling someone's leg also sometimes was described as a way to awaken a sleeping person in a railway compartment, ship's berth, etc.). Thornton's "American Glossary" (1912) has pull (n.) "a jest" (to have a pull at (someone)), which it identifies as "local" and illustrates with an example from the Massachusetts "Spy" of May 21, 1817, which identifies it as "a Georgian phrase." To pull (one's) punches is from 1920 in pugilism, from 1921 figuratively. To pull in "arrive" (1892) and pull out "depart" (1868) are from the railroads.
To pull (something) off "accomplish, succeed at" is originally in sporting, "to win the prize money" (1870). To pull (something) on (someone) is from 1916; to pull (something) out of one's ass is Army slang from 1970s. To pull rank is from 1919; to pull the rug from under (someone) figuratively is from 1946.

verb destroy; knock over

Example sentences :

You pull down, you despoil; but they build up, they restore.
Extract from : « The White Company » by Arthur Conan Doyle

Good admonition and bad example only build with one hand to pull down with the other.
Extract from : « Self-Help » by Samuel Smiles

Are we to be under orders to pull down one of them Popish chapels—or what?'
Extract from : « Barnaby Rudge » by Charles Dickens

Intently Chris watched Istafiev pull down the right-side lever.
Extract from : « Raiders Invisible » by Desmond Winter Hall

He could not hope to pull down so tough-mouthed 90 a beast with his ordinary curb.
Extract from : « Out of the Depths » by Robert Ames Bennet

They will pull down their prey under the water where they always feed.
Extract from : « Pathfinder » by Alan Douglas

"There's Monte Carlo; you might pull down a tidy sum," said the tempter.
Extract from : « The Lure of the Mask » by Harold MacGrath

Turning, they wished to flee into the castle and pull down the portcullis.
Extract from : « King Arthur's Knights » by Henry Gilbert

I'd have liked to get at the chimneys, but I'd have had to pull down every cottage in the place to rectify them.
Extract from : « Mary Gray » by Katharine Tynan

Don't you try to tell me any fairy stories, or you'll pull down trouble.
Extract from : « Torchy » by Sewell Ford

Synonyms for pull down

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019