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haul
haul (one's) ashes
1. To leave or depart, especially with great haste. I'm going to break your nose if you don't haul your ashes out of here!
2. slang To engage in sexual activity, especially intercourse; to achieve sexual release or gratification. Also phrased as "get one's ashes hauled." After six months at sea, I was quite anxious to haul my ashes!
get (one's) ashes hauled
slang To engage in sexual activity, especially intercourse; to achieve sexual release or gratification. Also phrased as "haul one's ashes." After six months at sea, everyone onboard was anxious to get their ashes hauled.
haul (someone) over the coals
To scold, reprimand, or reprove someone severely for an error or mistake. I was hauled over the coals by my boss last week for messing up the accounting software. I know Mary messed up, but don't haul her over the coals too hard for it.
short haul
1. adjective (typically hyphenated and used before a noun) Of, covering, or requiring only a short distance or period of time. I've found that it's actually cheaper to fly into Seattle and then catch a short-haul flight up to British Columbia from there.
2. noun A rather short distance. The bus will take us most of the way to grandma's house, and then it's just a short haul from the station.
3. noun A short length or period of time. Congress approved funding to cover the country's debt for the short haul, but a more permanent solution will have to be reached before the December 31 deadline.
long haul
1. A difficult task that requires a lot of time and energy to complete. It's going to be a long haul before I have this car up and running. It needs a lot of work.
2. A long distance or journey. Jill knows that obtaining a PhD is going to be tough, but she said she's in it for the long haul. It's a long haul to Fresno, but if we take turns driving it shouldn't be so bad.
call someone on the carpet
and haul someone on the carpetFig. to reprimand a person. (When done by someone of clear superiority. Haul is stronger than call.) One more error like that and the big boss will call you on the carpet. I'm sorry it went wrong. I really hope the regional manager doesn't call me on the carpet again.
haul off and do something
1. Inf. to draw back and do something, such as strike a person. She hauled off and slapped him hard. Max hauled off and poked Lefty in the nose.
2. Rur. to do something without a great deal of preparation. The old man hauled off and bought himself a house. Someday, I'm going to haul off and buy me a new car.
haul someone in
Fig. to arrest someone; [for a police officer] to take someone to the police station. The cop hauled the drunk driver in. They hauled in the suspects.
haul someone or something over to something
to drag someone or something over to something. (Fixed order.) She hauled the boy over to the mess he made and forced him to clean it up. Ken hauled the logs over to the fireplace and laid the fire.
haul someone (up) before someone or something
Fig. to bring someone into the presence of someone or something, usually some officer of the law. The officer hauled the suspect up before the judge. She hauled up the suspect before the judge.
haul something down
to pull something down from a higher level. Terry hauled the sail down and put it away. Please haul down the mainsail.
haul something (from some place) to some place
and haul something from some place (to some place)to drag something from one place to another. I don't want to have to haul this thing from home to office and back again. I hauled my suitcase to the airport from my hotel.
haul something up (from something)
to drag or pull something up from below. Jeff hauled the bucket up from the bottom of the well. He hauled up the bucket.
haul up (somewhere)
and pull up (somewhere)to stop somewhere; to come to rest somewhere. The car hauled up in front of the house. My hat blew away just as the bus pulled up to the stop.
over the long haul
and in the long haul; in the long runFig. long term; over a long period of time. over the long haul, this model will prove best. This will last in the long haul.
over the short haul
and in the short haul; in the short runFig. for the immediate future. over the short haul, you'd be better off to put your money in the bank. over the short haul, you may wish you had done something different. But things will work out all right.
rake someone over the coals
and haul someone over the coalsFig. to give someone a severe scolding. My mother hauled me over the coals for coming in late last night. The manager raked me over the coals for being late again.
for the long haul
for a long period of time
over the long term Before you invest in Internet stocks, be sure you can afford to invest for the long haul. Usage notes: also used in the form over the long haul (during a long period of time): It's possible, over the long haul, to see changes in the populations of these birds.
haul somebody into somewhere
to use or threaten force to make someone go somewhere He was hauled into court and fined ten dollars for not putting his garbage in sealed bags.
haul/pull yourself up by your bootstraps
to improve your situation by your own efforts without any help from other people My father pulled himself up by his bootstraps to become one of the richest men in the country.
haul ass
(American very informal!) to move very quickly, especially in order to escape When the shooting started we hauled ass out of there.
See haul up by bootstraps, drag over the coalsa long haul
something that takes a lot of time and energy It's been a long haul but we've finally got the house looking the way we want it. (American)
rake over the coals
to talk about unpleasant things from the past that other people would prefer not to talk about (usually in continuous tenses) There's no point in raking over the coals - all that happened twenty years ago, and there's nothing we can do about it now.
call on the carpet
Summon for a scolding or rebuke, as in Suspecting a leak to the press, the governor called his press secretary on the carpet. This term began as on the carpet, which in the early 1700s referred to a cloth (carpet) covering a conference table and therefore came to mean "under consideration or discussion." In 19th-century America, however, carpet meant "floor covering," and the expression, first recorded in 1902, alluded to being called before or reprimanded by a person rich or powerful enough to have a carpet.
haul off
1. Draw back slightly, in preparation for some action. For example, He hauled off and smacked his brother in the face. [c. 1800]
2. Also, haul out. Shift operations to a new place, move away. For example, The group gradually hauled off to the West Coast, or The train hauled out just as I arrived. [Second half of 1800s]
haul up
1. Come to a halt, stop, as in We hauled up in front of the hotel.
2. Bring someone before a superior or other authority, call someone to account. For example, This was the third time he'd been hauled up before the judge. [Mid-1800s]
long haul
1. A considerable distance over which something must travel or be carried. For example, It's a long haul from my house to yours. This usage dates from the late 1800s, as does the antonym, short haul, as in The movers charge just as much for a short haul as for a long one.
2. A considerable length of time, an extended period, as in
This investment is one for the long haul. It is often put as
over the long haul, as in
Over the long haul we needn't worry about production. [c. 1930] Also see
in the long run.
rake over the coals
Also, haul over the coals. Reprimand severely, as in When Dad finds out about the damage to the car, he's sure to rake Peter over the coals, or The coach hauled him over the coals for missing practice. These terms allude to the medieval torture of pulling a heretic over red-hot coals. [Early 1800s]
short haul
haul off
v. Slang 1. To carry someone or something away to some place, especially by force: The police hauled the troublemaker off to jail. The troops hauled off the spy for questioning.
2. To draw back slightly, as in preparation for initiating an action: The tormented child hauled off and slugged the bully.
3. To do something impulsively: I hauled off and bought a new car last weekend.
4. To shift operations to a new place; move away: The company said goodbye to Buffalo and hauled off to Phoenix.
haul up
v.1. To pull or hoist something up from below: The workers hauled the crates up with a pulley. The mail carrier hauled up the mailbag to the second floor.
2. Slang To come to a halt: We hauled up at their front door.
3. Slang To force someone to appear in a court of law or before some other authority: The prosecutor hauled up the CEO on charges of fraud. They hauled her up on charges that would be difficult to prove. He was hauled up on a larceny charge.
bag ass (out of somewhere)
and barrel ass (out of somewhere) and bust ass (out of somewhere) and cut ass (out of somewhere) and drag ass (out of somewhere) and haul ass (out of somewhere) and shag ass (out of somewhere) tv. to hurry away from some place; to get oneself out of a place in a hurry. (Usually objectionable.) I gotta shag ass, Fred. Catch you later. Let’s haul ass out of here and go get a beer. It’s late, you twits. Time to go. Let’s drag ass!
haul ass out of somewhere
verbhaul ass
verbhaul
1. n. the proceeds from a theft; loot. (Underworld.) The cops thought they must have got a pretty good haul.
2. n. the proceeds from any activity: a performance, a fishing trip, a collection of goods or money for charity, etc. They surveyed the haul of cans and packages and decided they had done a pretty fair job.
haul ass
Vulgar Slang To move quickly: We'll be late if you don't haul ass.
rake over the coals
To reprimand severely.