What does "push-pull" mean?

An alternation or fluctuation between two opposites; a back-and-forth dispute, a tug of war.

What is a synonym for "push-pull"?

Common synonyms include: push-and-pull, push-and-pull.

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
An alternation or fluctuation between two opposites; a back-and-forth dispute, a tug of war.
"In Europe, the debate around abortion access has been regalvanised by the pandemic, and last year Poland passed a near total ban, […]. Elsewhere we’ve seen a swing in the opposite direction, […]. The overall effect of this push-pull is an atmosphere of intense instability as we face up to a new phase in the struggle for reproductive justice."

Adjective

1
Operated by pushing and pulling. not-comparable
"I thought he was rather foolish when he selected the revolving door instead of taking the orthodox push-pull door at the side."
2
Operated by pushing and pulling.; Operating with locomotives at both the head and rear of a train, or with a locomotive at one end and a driving position in the vehicle at the opposite end, so that the train can be driven from either end. not-comparable
"The coaches require modifications, including work to ensure they can work in push-pull mode with Class 67 locos."
3
Having two electronic devices in opposite phase. not-comparable

"I thought he was rather foolish when he selected the revolving door instead of taking the orthodox push-pull door at the side."

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.