How to Use push-pull in a Sentence

push-pull

adjective
  • Boyd and Tian-Chen push-pull the last cow to the barn, slam shut the door and Boyd slaps a talisman down to protect them.
    Erik Kain, Forbes, 22 Sep. 2024
  • Gene had this push-pull relationship with Leo all his life, but Leo always seemed to take Gene back.
    Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 May 2023
  • This will be the central push-pull of the season for the Bulls, who have already missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons.
    Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 30 Sep. 2024
  • The push-pull tension between the teen and her mother (Maria Dizzia) is equally organic.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2024
  • With such sharp writing and strong performances, there’s no need to belabor the push-pull between home life and career.
    Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Mar. 2023
  • Add this one to the ongoing push-pull between streaming and theatrical.
    Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 1 Oct. 2024
  • The tension in Montana reflects a nationwide push-pull.
    Katheryn Houghton, CBS News, 12 Dec. 2023
  • This plastic tree stand is made to support trees up to 8 feet tall and features a push-pull lock system that allows for easy assembly.
    Casey Clark, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Nov. 2023
  • Collectively, the two singers embrace a push-pull tension of balancing work, life and love.
    Mya Abraham, VIBE.com, 20 Sep. 2024
  • Your dreams might be a powerful resource for this, as the push-pull of a relationship that drags on your subconscious will then be closer to the surface.
    Tarot Astrologers, Chicago Tribune, 1 Apr. 2023
  • Your efforts can easily be caught in the push-pull of conflicting strategies and result in little to no actual progress.
    Jody L. Bickel, Forbes, 12 Dec. 2024
  • Helgerson has several tricks to deal with the push-pull of respecting the layout while creating the openness that people crave.
    Michelle Brunner, Washington Post, 10 May 2023
  • The push-pull between safety and survival is the movie’s most fascinating element.
    Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 24 Dec. 2024
  • Any push-pull between parks and housing over available land would be only the prelude to what’s sure to be a bigger fight in the coming months as 2024 bond allocations begin.
    Sharon Grigsby, Dallas News, 26 May 2023
  • This often results in a push-pull dynamic, where the energy of one planet disrupts the stability of the other.
    Valerie Mesa, Peoplemag, 2 Aug. 2024
  • The superb soundtrack deepens that push-pull, in the sibilant whoosh of ocean waves, the gentle percussion of rain against a city window, the incessant murmur of an airport terminal.
    Sheri Linden, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Apr. 2023
  • The innovative push-pull handle design assures safety and has a locking mechanism that prevents the blade from sliding while in use.
    Christina Shepherd McGuire, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Sep. 2024
  • Hospitals are fraught spaces and their halls are respites from the push-pull between caregivers and their charges, between the realities of diagnoses and the hopes of treatment, between salvation and death.
    Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Aug. 2023
  • The push-pull dynamic between Holland and Amanda Seyfried’s investigator reveals the story by twists and turns.
    James Grebey, Vulture, 9 June 2023
  • Fields adjacent to push-pull areas also saw decreases in insects.
    Erika Page, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Aug. 2023
  • Throughout the series, Raylan tries his best to leave his old Kentucky home and start a new life somewhere else, but Harlan’s violence keeps pulling him back, and this is one of the earliest and best examples of that emotional push-pull.
    Matthew Jackson, Vulture, 12 July 2023
  • The researchers say the push-pull system is longer-lasting than pesticides, because insects can develop resistance to the chemicals.
    Erika Page, The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Aug. 2023
  • And while the push-pull tension between the allure of complete social breakdown and the remorse over unleashing the collective id is what Folie à Deux really seems to want to dig into, the film never balances the two in a way that hits its targets.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2024
  • The push-pull rhythm is repeated throughout, in composer Christopher Benstead’s score, which alternates between tribal drumming and slow, sad strings.
    Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2023
  • Moore and Portman inject the movie with wattage, dramatic heft, and a push-pull dynamic associated with immovable objects and irresistible forces.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 29 Nov. 2023
  • The pressure continues as the sun in Libra squares Mars in your 12th house of all things behind the scenes on Oct. 14, creating a push-pull dynamic between your desire to communicate freely versus your need for emotional privacy.
    Valerie Mesa, People.com, 7 Oct. 2024
  • Tensions continue to rise on Dec. 12 as Venus opposes Mars, creating friction between your values and your pursuits — expect push-pull dynamics in love.
    Valerie Mesa, People.com, 9 Dec. 2024
  • Consider refining your priorities rather than leading with a fight or push-pull dynamic.
    Valerie Mesa, People.com, 2 Nov. 2024
  • With every book, Kushner has grown more interested in the push-pull between material restriction and psychic freedom.
    Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 3 Sep. 2024
  • Scholl says a perfect storm of low unemployment, the impact of the Great Resignation, and changes in people’s relationship with work have created push-pull tension of workers holding on to their jobs and employers clamoring for efficiencies.
    Trey Williams, Fortune, 13 Dec. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'push-pull.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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