hauling

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
haul/hɔːl/

▶verb

• 1 pull or drag with effort or force.

• 2 transport in a truck or cart.

• 3 (of a sailing ship) change course abruptly.

• 4 (haul off) N. Amer. informal leave.

  ■ withdraw slightly before doing something.

▶noun

• 1 a quantity of something obtained, especially illegally.

• 2 a number of fish caught at one time.

• 3 a distance to be travelled.

– phrases
haul someone over the coals see coal.

– derivatives
hauler noun.

– origin C16 (orig. in the naut. sense ‘trim sails for sailing closer to the wind’): var. of hale2.