pull-awayn.1
/ˈpʊləweɪ/, U.S. /ˈpʊləˌweɪ/ 1. The action or an act of pulling away (in various senses).Recorded earliest in pull-away boy n. at Compounds.
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the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going away > [noun]
departing?c1225
partingc1300
withdrawingc1315
departc1330
wendingc1330
outpassinga1387
goinga1400
discessc1425
departisona1450
departmentc1450
going awayc1450
departition1470
departurec1515
recess1531
avoidance1563
parture1567
waygate1575
departance1579
exit1596
remotion1608
voiding1612
recession1630
recedence1641
recede1649
partment1663
recedure1712
leaving1719
off-going1727
quittance1757
departal1823
pull-out1825
pull-awaya1829
a1829 H. Crow Mem. (1830) 143 My pull-away boys related what had occurred.
1950 J. Dempsey Championship Fighting 170 The pull-away should only be used as a last-resort defence.
1953 Sunday Jrnl. & Star (Lincoln, Nebraska) 20 Dec. Bob Lee got 16 points and led Lincoln's pullaway in the third period.
1976 Drive May–June 90/2 A fuss-free pullaway from 20mph in top gear and an 11sec time from 30–50mph highlight the car's impressive flexibility.
2004 Belfast Tel. (Nexis) 4 Feb. Today's announcement..is the long-anticipated final phase of Mr Hume's gradual pullaway from political centre-stage.
2. Apparently: a small rowing boat. rare.
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1939 T. S. Eliot Old Possum's Bk. Pract. Cats 17 Abandoning their sampans, and their pullaways and junks, They battened down the hatches on the crew within their bunks.
Compounds
pull-away boy n. now historical a member of a crew of oarsmen engaged to ply between a larger boat and the shore (cf. to pull away 2 at pull v. Phrasal verbs).
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a1829*Pull-away boys [see sense 1].
1844 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 14 263 The state-canoe of King Eyamba with its crew of pull-away-boys. [Note] Pull-away-boys, the name given to natives who are usually engaged by the shipping in the river to paddle or row boats, and otherwise work for the vessels.
1899 M. H. Kingsley W. Afr. Stud. App. i. 446 Turning with an appealing look to the trader, he points out the bareness of the royal pull-away boys.
1963 G. I. Jones Trading States of Oil Rivers vi. 74 An agent, and his European assistants, together with coopers, and other craftsmen and a number of African seamen and general labourers—‘pull away boys’, who were Kru tribesmen recruited on the Leeward coast.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
pull-awayn.2
/ˈpʊləweɪ/, U.S. /ˈpʊləˌweɪ/ U.S. Now rare.
= pom-pom-pull-away n.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > children's game > hiding or chasing game > [noun] > tag
tick1622
hide-and-seek1724
tag1738
tig1816
touch-last1825
touch1828
widdy widdy way1832
touch and run1844
tiggy1845
widdy1859
Tommy Touchwood1876
pom-pom-pull-away1883
pull-away1883
squat tag1883
stoop tag1898
he1900
it1969
shadow tag1969
1883 N.Y. Times 30 Dec. 5/1 After prison goal came..pom pom pullaway... It was usually called pullaway, and that may be the correct name of it.
1936 J. Ise Sod & Stubble xxv. 229 They could hear and see the school children at noon and recess, playing darebase and pullaway.
1963 G. Snyder No Time on My Hands (1986) x. 112 At noon we tried to play pullaway but gave it up because of the heat.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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