haul

(hal), v. [Early mod. E. also hall; haulen, a rare form, due appar. to OF. influence, of ME. halen, > reg. E. hale, the now le common but historically more correct form of the verb: see halel.] trans. To pull or draw with force; move or transport by drawing; drag: as, to haul down the sails; to haul in the boom; to haul a load of wood. I never was so pulled and hauled in my whole life. Goldsmith, To the Printer. Bravest of all in Frederick town, She took up the flag the men hauled down. Whittier, Barbara Frietchie. To haul over the coals. See coal.—To haul the wind, to haul up (naut.), to turn the head of the ship nearer to the point from which the wind blows, by arranging the sails more obliquely, bracing the yards more forward, hauling the sheets more aft, etc. Aman on the forecastle called out ‘‘Land ho!” We immediately took in studding-sails and hauled our wind, running.in for the land. R. H. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 23. =$ Drag, Draw, etc. See draw. TL. in trans. 1. To pull or tug; endeavor to drag something: as, to haul at a heavy load. The skipper hauled at the heavy sail. Whittier, Wreck of River mouth, 2. Naut., to alter a ship’s course; change the direction of sailing; move on a new course; hence, to sail, in general. haulser All the same night wee halled Southeast. Hakluyt’s Voyages, I. 445. He halled into the Harbour, close to the Island, and unrigg’d his Ship. Dainpier, Voyages, I. 51. I immediately hauled up for it, and found it to be an island, Cook, First Voyage, i. 7. 8. To shift, veer, or change, as the wind. The morning looked wild and threatening, but the clouds gradually hauled off to the eastward, leaving us the promise of a fine day. B. Taylor, Northern Travel, p. 265. To haul a board. See aboard1.—To haul in with (something), to direct the course of a ship so as to approach an object more nearly.— To haul off. («) To turn the course of a ship so as to get further off from an object. (b) To draw off or away; withdraw, as from a movement or scheme.—To haul round (to), to veer or shift to another point of the compa : said of the wind when it gradually goes round with the sun, or in the same way as the hands of a watch.— To haul up, to come up or to a rest bya hauling or drawing action: as, seals haul up on land to breed; the boat hauled wp at the wharf.