‘胳拉’ (gē lā) is a dialectal verb, common in Northern Chinese dialects like Beijing and Northeastern Mandarin, meaning to drag or pull something roughly, often with resistance, effort, or impatience. Though it appears to combine 胳 (gē), which usually relates to the arm or armpit, and 拉 (lā), meaning 'to pull', the compound functions as a single lexical unit — its meaning isn’t fully predictable from the individual characters. It carries a vivid, colloquial, and slightly rough or informal tone, frequently used when describing physical dragging of objects or people, especially in casual speech or storytelling.

The word emphasizes the awkwardness, heaviness, or unwillingness involved in the action — for example, pulling a reluctant child, dragging heavy luggage across gravel, or yanking a stuck drawer. It’s rarely used in formal writing or standard news contexts; instead, it thrives in spoken narratives, regional literature, or humorous descriptions where texture and attitude matter more than precision.