Hall or haul?
hall is a noun meaning “A corridor; a hallway”; haul is a verb meaning “To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or oxen, or a motor vehicle”. Use hall as a noun and haul as a verb (haul is also a noun: “An act of hauling or pulling, particularly with force; a…”). They sound the same (/hɔːl/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) hall is about 9.8 times as common as haul.
What is the difference between hall and haul?
| hall | haul | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | verb, noun |
| Meaning | A corridor; a hallway A large meeting room UKHall class, a class of steam locomotive used on the GWR | To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or oxen, or a motor vehicle To draw or pull something heavy An act of hauling or pulling, particularly with force; a (violent) pull or tug |
| Example | The drinking fountain was out in the hall | to haul logs to a sawmill |
| Forms | halls | hauls, hauling, hauled |
| Pronunciation | /hɔːl/ /hoːl/ /hɔl/ | /hɔːl/ /hoːl/ /hɔl/ |
| In writing | 74 times per million words | 7.6 times per million words |
Sources: hall and haul in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of hall and haul
hall
- 1
A corridor; a hallway
The drinking fountain was out in the hall
- 2
UKHall class, a class of steam locomotive used on the GWR
- 3
A large meeting room
The hotel had three halls for conferences, and two were in use by the convention
- 4
A manor house (originally because a magistrate's court was held in the hall of his mansion)
The duke lived in a great hall overlooking the sea
- 5
A building providing student accommodation at a university
The student government hosted several social events so that students from different halls would intermingle
- 6
The principal room of a secular medieval building
- 7
A place for special professional education, or for conferring professional degrees or licences
a Divinity Hall; Apothecaries' Hall
- 8
IndiaA living room
haul
- 1
To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or oxen, or a motor vehicle
to haul logs to a sawmill
- 2
An act of hauling or pulling, particularly with force; a (violent) pull or tug
- 3
To draw or pull something heavy
- 4
The distance over which something is hauled or transported, especially if long
Getting to his place was a real haul
- 5
To carry or transport something, with a connotation that the item is heavy or otherwise difficult to move
- 6
An amount of something that has been taken, especially of fish, illegal loot, or items purchased on a shopping trip
The robber’s haul was over thirty items
- 7
To drag, to pull, to tug
- 8
Ellipsis of haul video (“video posted on the Internet consisting of someone showing and talking about recently purchased items”)
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, hall or haul?
hall appears 74 times per million words; haul 7.6 times per million words.
hall 74 times per million wordshaul 7.6 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).