pulley
UK/ˈpʊli/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/ˈpɵlɪj/
pulley noun: one of the simple machines; a sheave, a wheel with a grooved rim, in which a pulled rope or chain lifts an object (more useful when two or more pulleys are used together, as in a block and tackle arrangement, such that a small force moving through a greater distance can exert a larger force through a smaller distance).
Noun
pulley (plural pulleys or (obsolete) pullies)
- One of the simple machines; a sheave, a wheel with a grooved rim, in which a pulled rope or chain lifts an object (more useful when two or more pulleys are used together, as in a block and tackle arrangement, such that a small force moving through a greater distance can exert a larger force through a smaller distance).
- These pulleys […] placed collaterally.1648, John Wilkins, Mathematical Magick
- Nine hundred of the ſtrongeſt Men were employed to draw up theſe Cords by many Pulleys faſtned on the Poles, and thus, in leſs than three Hours, I was raiſed and flung into the Engine, and there tyed faſt.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Gives Some Account of Himself and Family, His First Inducements to Travel. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s...
- Annular ligament of the finger.
Verb
pulley (third-person singular simple present pulleys, present participle pulleying, simple past and past participle pulleyed)
- To raise or lift by means of a pulley.
- [a mine]is digg'd out with ease, being soft, and is between a white Clay and Chalk at first; but being pulley'd up with the open Air, it receives a crusty kind of hardness1655, James Howell, “To Capt. Francis Bacon”, in Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ. Familiar Letters Domestic and Forren. […], 3rd edition, volume (please specify the page), London: […] Humphrey Mos[e]ley, […]...
Proper noun capitalized: Pulley
Pulley
- A surname.
- A hamlet in Bayston Hill parish, Shropshire, England (OS grid ref SJ4809).
pulley meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
pulley in Hindi
- one of simple machines
- घिरनी ghirnī
pulley in Tamil
- கப்பி, சகடை, இருசாழி, இருசுருளி, இருசுச்சக்கரம்
pulley in Urdu
- چرخی
pulley in Bengali
- কপিফল, পুলি
More languagesFewer languages
- pulley in Telugu
- కప్పీ kappī, గిలక gilaka
- pulley in Malayalam
- കപ്പി kappi
- pulley in Kannada
- ರಾಟೆ, ಕಪ್ಪಿ, ಗಡಗಡೆ
- pulley in Punjabi
- ਚਕਲੀ caklī
- pulley in Sinhala
- කප්පිය kappiya
- pulley in Tagalog
- tangkalag, kalo
- pulley in Arabic
- مَنْجُور manjūr
- pulley in Indonesian
- katrol
- pulley in Thai
- รอก rɔ̂ɔk
- pulley in Vietnamese
- ròng rọc
Examples of pulley in a sentence
- The lathe can swing a pulley of 12 inches diameter.
- This was a simple pulley wheel, which revolved in the end of a stout piece of wood.
- Technical neepery -- it is not necessary or desirable for rope to grip pulleys.
Forms of pulley
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | pulleys |
| plural (obsolete) | pullies |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | pulleys |
| present participle | pulleying |
| past participle | pulleyed |
| past | pulleyed |
Origin of pulley
From Middle English puly, poley, from Old French poulie, polie (“a pulley, windlass”), from Medieval Latin polidia, plural mistaken for the feminine of neuter polidium, from Ancient Greek πολίδιον (polídion, “little pivot”), diminutive of πόλος (pólos, “pivot, hinge, axis”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel- (“to turn”). Associated with pull (verb) by folk etymology.
Words formed from pulley
Phrases with pulley
Words that rhyme with pulley
Questions about pulley
- What does pulley mean?
- Pulley means one of the simple machines; a sheave, a wheel with a grooved rim, in which a pulled rope or chain lifts an object (more useful when two or more pulleys are used together, as in a block and tackle arrangement, such that a small force moving through a greater distance can exert a larger force through a smaller distance).
- What is pulley in Hindi?
- Pulley in Hindi is घिरनी (ghirnī). See Pulley meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is pulley?
- Pulley can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce pulley?
- Pulley is pronounced /ˈpʊli/ (UK).
- What is the plural of pulley?
- The plural of pulley is pulleys.
Words near pulley in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pulley (page history and authors); Pulley (page history and authors); pulley (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); pulley (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Pulley (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); കപ്പി (Malayalam) (page history and authors); pulley (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਚਕਲੀ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); කප්පිය (Sinhala) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-pulley.ogg.
Cite this entry: “pulley.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pulley. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.