- to pull or draw with force; move by drawing; drag: They hauled the boat up onto the beach.
- to cart or transport; carry: The locomotive hauled freight over the Wasatch Mountains between Ogden, Utah, and Green River, Wyoming.
- to lower; cause to descend (often followed by down): As the students gathered around the flagpole, the school custodian hauled down the flag.
- to bring before an authority (often followed by before, in, to, into, etc.): He was hauled before the judge.She hauled me into the principal’s office.
- to pull or tug with force or effort: The sailors hauled on the oars as hard as they could.
- to go or come to a place, especially with effort: After much carousing in the streets, they finally hauled into the tavern.
- to cart or transport, or to move freight commercially: Ours is one of many Canadian trucking companies hauling south of the border.
- Nautical.
- to sail, as in a particular direction: They sailed to the west of Corsica, and then hauled south again.
- to draw or pull a vessel up on land, as for repairs or storage.
- (of the wind) to shift to a direction closer to the heading of a vessel (opposed to veer).
- (of the wind) to change direction, shift, or veer (often followed by round or to): During the early morning hours the wind hauled northward and increased in intensity, with accompanying heavy seas.
- a strong pull or tug: He felt a sudden haul on the other end of the rope.
- an act or instance of transporting something, or the load or quantity transported: You have so little stuff to move, I can probably do it in two hauls with my pickup.
- the distance or route over which anything is transported or carried: I’ve been using this truck for a year now on a weekly 30-mile haul.
- Fishing.
- the quantity of fish taken at one draft of the net: We got such a huge haul of fish that we could hardly carry them home.
- the draft of a fishing net.
- the place where a seine is hauled.
- the act of taking or acquiring something, or something taken or acquired: The thieves' haul included several valuable paintings.
- a video, photo, or report of something taken or acquired: He shops the flea markets over the weekend and then posts his haul on Monday afternoon.
- haul off,
- to change a ship's course so as to get farther off from an object.
- to withdraw; leave.
- to draw back the arm in order to strike; prepare to deal a blow: He hauled off and struck the insolent lieutenant a blow to the chin.
- haul up,
- to bring before a superior for judgment or reprimand; call to account: They were hauled up on a drug trafficking charge.
- to come to a halt; stop: As night was falling we finally hauled up at an old farmhouse owned by a friendly couple.
- to change the course of (a sailing vessel) so as to sail closer to the wind.
- (of a sailing vessel) to come closer to the wind.
- (of a vessel) to come to a halt.
- haul around, Nautical.
- to brace (certain yards of a sailing vessel).
- (of the wind) to change in a clockwise direction.
- to approach.
- to get a move on; hurry.
- to drag or draw (something) with effort
- to transport, as in a lorry
- to alter the course of (a vessel), esp so as to sail closer to the wind
- to draw or hoist (a vessel) out of the water onto land or a dock for repair, storage, etc
- (of the wind) to blow from a direction nearer the bow
- to change one's opinion or action
- the act of dragging with effort
- (esp of fish) the amount caught at a single time
- something that is hauled
- the goods obtained from a robbery
- a distance of hauling
- the amount of a contraband seizure
- in the long haul or over the long haul
- in a future time
- over a lengthy period of time