pull
pʊl
You pull a door, a tooth, and yourself together
The picture You take hold of something out there and drag it toward you. Push sends it away from your body; pull brings it toward your body.
Where the picture shows up in pull
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the door comes toward you
Pull the door, do not push it.
pʊl ðə dɔːr duː nɑːt pʊʃ ɪt
Pull, do not push.
Your hand takes the handle and the door comes toward your body.
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what is embedded comes out
The dentist pulled my tooth out.
ðə ˈdentɪst pʊld maɪ tuːθ aʊt
The dentist took my tooth out.
A tooth set in the gum comes free in the grip of the pliers.
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the car is dragged to the curb
Could you pull over just here?
kʊd juː pʊl ˈoʊvər dʒʌst hɪr
Could you stop right here?
A moving car is dragged out of the lane and onto the shoulder.
A moving car is pulled over to the edge of the road.
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the muscle gets yanked
He pulled a muscle in his back.
hiː pʊld ə ˈmʌsl ɪn hɪz bæk
He strained a muscle in his back.
A muscle in the back gets stretched further than it can take and stings.
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a scattered mind is gathered in
Pull yourself together.
pʊl jɔːrˈself təˈɡeðər
Get a grip on yourself.
Pieces of a mind scattered all over are raked back into one pile.
All of it in one picture
Pull is force coming your way. Pull a door and it opens toward you; pull a tooth and it comes out of the gum; pull a car sideways and it stops at the curb; pull a muscle too far and it tears; pull the scattered pieces of yourself in and you have got a grip. The same direction every time — toward the one doing the pulling.