# pulley

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpʊli/ · frequency rank #32,139

## Definitions
1. 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).
2. Annular ligament of the finger.

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **pulse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pulley-vs-pulse)
- **pulls** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pulley-vs-pulls)
- **pulses** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pulley-vs-pulses)
- **pulsed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pulley-vs-pulsed)
- **Putney** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pulley-vs-putney)
- **pulleys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pulley-vs-pulleys)
- **pull** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pull-vs-pulley)
- **Polly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/polly-vs-pulley)
- **pulled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pulled-vs-pulley)
- **pollen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pollen-vs-pulley)
- **polled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/polled-vs-pulley)
- **pallet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pallet-vs-pulley)
- **pellet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pellet-vs-pulley)
- **puller** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/puller-vs-pulley)
- **parley** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/parley-vs-pulley)

## Common misspellings (7)
`pluley`, `ppulley`, `pulely`, `puley`, `pulleyy`, `pullye`, `uplley`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pulley