haul

verb

1. (transitive)To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or oxen, or a motor vehicle.

   “to haul logs to a sawmill”

   “When I was seven or eight years of age, I began hauling all the wood used in the house and shops. I could not load it on the wagons, of course, at the time, but I could drive [the horses], and the choppers would load, and some one at the house unload.”

2. (transitive)To draw or pull something heavy.

   “Thither they bent, and haul'd their ſhip to land, / (The crooked keel divides the yellow ſand) / Ulyſſes ſleeping on his couch they bore, / And gently plac'd him on the rocky ſhore.”

   “A spacious breach we make, and Troy's proud wall, / Built by the gods, by her own hands doth fall; / Thus all their help to their own ruin give, / Some draw with cords and some the monster drive / With rolls and levers: thus our works it climbs, / Big with our fate; the youth with songs and rhimes, / Some dance, some haul the rope; at last let down / It enters with a thundering noise the town, / Oh Troy, the seat of gods, in war renown'd!”

   “Passing through the entrance of the harbour, the admiral proceeds to manœuvre his flet, to the great gratification of the host of spectators, […] [H]e hoists Dutch colours and fires two guns. This is the signal for a general chase after an imaginary enemy, a chase which continues till he hauls down his flag and fires another gun.”

   “The cable used for hauling the wagons on the incline may still be seen, but several of the guiding rollers have disappeared.”

   “United lost [Chris] Smalling to a second yellow card for hauling back Yannick Bolasie in extra time – but [Jesse] Lingard took the trophy to Old Trafford when he lashed home a first-time strike from Damien Delaney's half-clearance after 110 minutes.”

3. (transitive)To carry or transport something, with a connotation that the item is heavy or otherwise difficult to move.

   “The California fruit trade is all handled by the Southern Pacific and the Santa Fe railroads. The last named road operates its own refrigerator cars and fixes its own rates. It hauls fully half of the traffic and it is therefore evident that the "Beef Trust" has no voice or power in the matter. […] The same condition exists with the melon grower of Colorado, except that in this case the Santa Fe road hauls nearly all of the product.”

4. (figuratively, transitive)To drag, to pull, to tug.

   “The 26-year-old [Papiss Cissé] has proved a revelation since his £10m move from Freiburg, with his 11 goals in 10 matches hauling Newcastle above Spurs, who went down to Adel Taarabt's goal in Saturday's late kick-off at Loftus Road.”

5. (figuratively, transitive)Followed by up: to summon to be disciplined or held answerable for something.
6. (intransitive)To pull apart, as oxen sometimes do when yoked.
7. (ambitransitive)To steer (a vessel) closer to the wind.

   “When the Admiral hauls out of the Line, and remains ſo for ſome Accident, although the Signal for the Line is flying, and the Signal for Battle then out, ought not the other Ships to continue in the Line, doing their Duty, engaging the Enemy?”

   “On Tueſday the 4th of April, about ten o'clock in the morning, Mr. Banks's ſervant, Peter Briſcoe, diſcovered land, bearing fourth, at the diſtance of about three or four leagues. I immediately hauled up for it, and found it to be an iſland of an oval form, with a lagoon in the middle, which occupied much the larger part of it; […]”

   “A veſſel ſailing as near as ſhe can to the point from which the wind blows, is ſaid to be cloſe hauled.”

8. (intransitive)Of the wind: to shift fore (more towards the bow).

   “The wind, serving us to a desire, now hauled into the west.”

9. (US, colloquial, intransitive)To haul ass (“go fast”).

   ““How fast was he goin’?” / “I don’t know exactly, but he must’ve been haulin’, given where he landed.””

noun

1. An act of hauling or pulling, particularly with force; a (violent) pull or tug.

   “So I rigged my big salmon rod, and when I heard him splashing in the shallows across the pool, I put a few Alka Seltzer tablets onto the hook and cast into the darkness. There was a splash and a haul on my line, and this time I struck with both hands and then began pulling and horsing as hard as I could to bring this big fish over to my side.”

   “Then another series of hollered orders, a heave on the wheel, and the brig did a circuit of the flagship's bow, perilously close to the long bowsprit. A haul at the braces and back along the larboard side of the Vincennes the Swallow ran, losing speed but still sending foam seething along the hull of the sloop of war.”

2. The distance over which something is hauled or transported, especially if long.

   “Getting to his place was a real haul.”

   “I find long-haul travel by airplane tiring.”

   “The condition, par excellence, in favor of motor truck operation is one involving long hauls. In fact, it may be almost said that any one having to make long hauls in his business should motorize at once without further debate, as the case for trucks is practically settled by the mere statement of this condition. […] Transportation involving short hauls is the obverse of the ideal, and as a general thing represents a condition unfavorable for the operation of motor trucks.”

3. An amount of something that has been taken, especially of fish, illegal loot, or items purchased on a shopping trip.

   “The robber’s haul was over thirty items.”

   “The trawler landed a ten-ton haul.”

   “At Kidney's Cove there was a seine of one hundred and seventy-five fathoms in length and twenty-four feet in depth, operated by a crew of twelve men. The daily hauls were ten, and was fished from April 13th or June 6th. Gross receipts, $1,600.”

   “One of the biggest "hauls" ever made in the tire business is alleged to have been engineered last week by H. R. Hare, a former cashier of the Hartford Rubber Works. Most of the larger tire concerns doing business in New York were the victims, the total amount stolen being in the neighborhood of $25,000 worth.”

   “Besides Maxim the only other person in sight was a beachcomber so wrapped in scarves he could have been a pilgrim from the Middle Ages. He dragged a sledge with a haul of driftwood, bottles and cans.”

4. (Internet, abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis)Ellipsis of haul video (“video posted on the Internet consisting of someone showing and talking about recently purchased items”).
5. A bundle of many threads to be tarred.

   “When the collected yarns number about 400, they are coiled up in a haul, and are ready either for tarring, or laying into white ropes. Previous to the haul being taken up for tarring, there is a slight turn put into it to keep it from getting entangled in the tar-kettle. […] 400 of such threads constituted a haul, and weighed 12 cwt. 2 qrs, and when tarred 15 cwt.”

6. (British)Four goals scored by one player in a game.

   “Four goals scored by a single player in a match can be described as a 'haul', while five goals is unofficially a 'glut'.”