pull-up

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   An exercise in which you hang from a bar by your hands and lift your body until your chin passes the bar.

   Grammar: A count noun, written with a hyphen: do ten pull-ups. The verb is two words: pull up.

   Patterns

   • do a pull-up
   • do pull-ups on a bar

   He can do twenty pull-ups without stopping.

   The gym has a bar for pull-ups near the entrance.

   She finally managed her first full pull-up after months of training.

2. 2nouncountableBritish

   An act of stopping a vehicle, or a place at the roadside where drivers stop.

   Grammar: Mostly British: a pull-up for lorry drivers.

   Patterns

   • a pull-up for something

   The truckers met at a pull-up for coffee and eggs.

   The driver made a quick pull-up at the side of the road.

   We found a small pull-up near the village where we could rest.

Word forms

Common combinations

do pull-ups

Every morning he does pull-ups on the bar.

pull-up bar

They fixed a pull-up bar over the door.

weighted pull-up

Athletes add a weighted pull-up to build strength.

set of pull-ups

She did a set of ten pull-ups before breakfast.

assisted pull-up

The gym machine allows an assisted pull-up for beginners.

Synonyms and how they differ

chin-up

A chin-up is similar but uses an underhand grip that works the biceps more, while a pull-up uses an overhand grip.

lay-by

Lay-by is the British word for a roadside stopping area, while pull-up is the more informal term.

pit stop

Pit stop is a short break during a trip, not a roadside spot specifically.

Opposites

Word family

pull up verb

to stop a vehicle, or to lift something upward

pull verb

to draw something toward you

chin-up noun

a similar exercise with the palms facing you

push-up noun

an exercise done lying face down, pushing the body up

Commonly confused: pull-up or pull up?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “pull-up”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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