Haling

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Pulling or dragging a person or object along by force, often against resistance
2. Forcibly drawing someone or something toward a place, usually by strong pulling motion
3. Hauling or tugging something roughly along a route, especially when it is heavy or unwilling to move

Etymology: "Haling" is the present participle of "hale," the verb meaning to drag someone forcibly. Its meaning comes from the third "hale" in the record, which entered English from Anglo-Norman "haler," borrowed from Old Dutch "*halon," a word that also gave Dutch "halen" (to fetch or pull). The Proto-Germanic root behind all of these meant "to lift," and the same ancient root produced Latin "excellō" (to surpass, literally to rise above) and Lithuanian "kélti" (to raise up). So a verb about hauling a struggling person along is, at bottom, a verb about raising something. The other "hale" is a different word entirely. It comes from Old English "hāl," meaning whole or healthy, which is the source of "whole," and the "healthy" sense belongs to that family too. English speakers have long confused the two, which is one reason the verb sometimes looks like it should mean something about health. Haul is a doublet of hale, meaning the two words descend from the same source but reached English by different routes and took on different shapes and senses.

Synonyms: haul, drag, pull, tug

Antonyms: push, release