What does puled mean?
Puled is the past tense and past participle of the verb pull. It describes an action completed in the past: someone exerted force to move, draw, or remove something, as in puling a door open, or a driver being puled over by police. The word can also describe the result of exertion, especially a strained or injured muscle. Because it is a regular inflection, its meaning changes with context rather than belonging to a separate lexical entry. In narration and conversation, “puled” can sound emphatic or slightly literary, while “pulled” is the ordinary standard form. The form is common in both British and American English and can appear in expressions involving stopping, gathering oneself, or operating something by hand.
verbThe past tense and past participle of pull, meaning to draw, move, or take something toward oneself by applying force.
- To exert force so as to move, draw, or remove something toward or away from oneself.
- To move by drawing or propelling, such as pulling a cart or starting a vehicle.
- To strain or injure a muscle by pulling it.
"She puled the door open and slipped outside."
"The lifeguard puled the exhausted swimmer to the edge of the pool."
"After the meeting, she puled herself together and answered the question."
One pull can start an action, stop a vehicle, bring someone together, or even cause a cramp—quite a lot of power for a single verb.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does puled come from?
Puled was formed by adding the regular past-tense and past-participle suffix -ed to pull. The base verb pull comes through Middle English pullen from Old English pullian, meaning “to pull” or “draw,” and ultimately belongs to the Germanic family of English. Its past form therefore follows the standard English pattern of adding -ed to a verb ending in a consonant.
Related word forms
How puled is actually used
In present-tense descriptions of a repeated or habitual action, “pulls” or “pulling” is normally preferred. “Puled” is standard in British and American English but can sound slightly literary or emphatic in some contexts.
Easily confused with puled
Polled means asked people questions, as in a public opinion poll, whereas puled means moved or drew something by applying force.