pulley

Noun

A wheel on an axle, used to lift weights by a rope.
a simple machine consisting of a wheel with a groove in which a rope can run to change the direction or point of application of a force applied to the rope
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.

Examples

The strategy worked like a pulley, lifting his score higher with each clever move.

Origin / Etymology

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.

Synonyms

block, pulley block, pulley-block

Scrabble Score: 11

pulley: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
pulley: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
pulley: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

pulley: valid Words With Friends Word