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PULLEY
Definition of PULLEY
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).
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
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.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
5 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
3rd
of 58 source languages in OUTLIER
9%
of traced words share this origin (2,589)
How it is built
Same root, PULLEY · 2 relatives in the game
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
PULLEY in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 3 boards so far.
It first turned up on Day 76, 4 August 2026. The most recent board was Day 117, 14 September 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 26 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 76, 4 August 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
PULLEY starts with P and ends with Y. Sorted, its letters read ELLPUY - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. L appears more than once, including a double letter.
Words that start PULLEY
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Could you have found PULLEY?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 76 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER