pulley

Meanings

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).

Verb

• To raise or lift by means of a pulley.

Related

Narrower meaning words

• polyspast
• block and tackle
• winch

Broader meaning words

• hoist
• simple machine, Simple machine

Origin

• From Middle English puli, from Old French poulie, polie, from Medieval Latin polidia, plural mistaken for the feminine of neutral polidium, from Ancient Greek πολίδιον, diminutive of πόλος, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷel-. Associated with pull by folk etymology.