arrimar

To bring one thing close to another — a chair to a table, a ladder to a wall — physically closing the gap between them. The reflexive arrimarse a means to move close to or lean against something or someone.

• Arrima la silla a la mesa, por favor. — Pull the chair up to the table, please.
• Se arrimó a la pared para dejar pasar a la gente. — He moved close to the wall to let people pass.
• Arrimamos el sofá a la ventana. — We moved the sofa close to the window.

Overlooking the fixed expression arrimar el hombro ("to pitch in, lend a hand") — a learner who only knows the literal sense of arrimar will miss this very common figurative use in everyday speech.

• expression "Arrimar el hombro" — A common idiom meaning to pitch in and help with a shared task — originates from field laborers working shoulder-to-shoulder at harvest time, literally bringing their shoulders close together.