Hales

Part of speech: verb, noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Pulls or drags a person along by force, often against their will, toward a particular place
2. Forcibly hauls someone somewhere, usually by seizing them and compelling them to go along
3. Takes hold of a person and drags them away, moving them by force rather than by persuasion

Etymology: "Hales" is the third-person singular form of "hale" in its sense of hauling or dragging something by force, so the verb's story is really the story of "haul." The verb "hale" came into Middle English from Anglo-Norman "haler," borrowed from Old Dutch "halon," and it traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root "*kelH-" meaning "to lift," which also gave Latin "excellere," "to surpass," literally to rise above. This is a doublet: "hale" and "haul" are two forms of the same ancient word that entered English by different routes and took on different shapes. "Haul" kept a closer link to the Germanic form of the verb, while "hale" arrived through French, which is why it has the spelling and sound it does. The result is two English words that look and sound like cousins because they are.

Synonyms: drags, pulls, hauls, lugs, tows

Antonyms: releases