pull

Pull is a force that acts on an object in the direction toward the source of the force, causing motion or a tendency toward the source. In physics, pulls and pushes describe categories of force; attractive forces such as gravity, magnetism, and electrical attraction are examples of pulls. Tension in a rope or chain is a distributed pull transmitted between connected bodies. The magnitude of a pull is measured in newtons and, as a vector, has both magnitude and direction.

In everyday language, pulling involves exerting effort to draw an object toward oneself or toward a source of resistance, such as pulling a door toward you or pulling a cart along a street. The action can be aided by leverage, friction, or mechanical advantage. In engineering, the effect of a pull depends on where and how it is applied, and it can produce motion, rotation, or tension in materials.

Beyond physical force, the term appears in technology and management. In computing, a pull model or polling describes data transfer initiated by the requester, as opposed to push, where data is sent proactively. A pull request is a collaboration mechanism in distributed version control systems to propose integrating changes into a repository. In marketing and production, pull strategies and pull-based systems aim to generate demand or production in response to actual customer needs rather than forecasts.