tug

tug

See also: Tuğ

English

Etymology

From Middle English tuggen, toggen, from Old English togian (“to draw, drag”), from Proto-West Germanic *togōn, from Proto-Germanic *tugōną (“to draw, tear”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull”).

Cognate with Middle Low German togen (“to draw”), Middle High German zogen (“to pull, tear off”), Icelandic toga (“to pull, draw”). Related to tow.

Pronunciation

• enPR: tŭg, IPA^(key): /tʌɡ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌɡ

Verb

tug (third-person singular simple present tugs, present participle tugging, simple past and past participle tugged)

1. (transitive) To pull or drag with great effort.

   The police officers tugged the drunkard out of the pub.

2. (transitive) To pull hard repeatedly.

   He lost his patience trying to undo his shoe-lace, but tugging it made the knot even tighter.

3. (transitive) To tow by tugboat.
4. (slang, transitive, intransitive) To masturbate.

Derived terms

• tug down
• tug off
• tug up

Translations

to pull with great effort

Bulgarian: тегля (bg) (teglja), влача (bg) (vlača) Dutch: trekken (nl) Finnish: kiskaista (fi), riuhtaista, nykäistä (fi), raahata (fi) French: tirer (fr) German: zerren (de) Hungarian: vonszol (hu) Italian: trascinare (it) Occitan: tirar (oc) Romanian: trage (ro), smuci (ro) Russian: тяну́ть (ru) impf (tjanútʹ), потяну́ть (ru) pf (potjanútʹ), тащи́ть (ru) impf (taščítʹ), потащи́ть (ru) pf (potaščítʹ) Spanish: tirar (es), halar (es), (colloquial) jalar (es) Swedish: dra (sv), släpa (sv)

to pull repeatedly

Bulgarian: дърпам (bg) (dǎrpam) Dutch: rukken (nl) Finnish: kiskoa (fi), riuhtoa, nykiä (fi) French: tirer (fr) German: zerren (de) Hungarian: rángat (hu), ráncigál (hu), cibál, húzogat Italian: tirare (it) Maori: kāhakihaki Russian: дёргать (ru) impf (djórgatʹ), дёрнуть (ru) pf (djórnutʹ) Spanish: tironear (es) Swedish: dra (sv)

to tow by tugboat

Bulgarian: взимам на буксир (vzimam na buksir) Danish: bugsere Dutch: slepen (nl) Finnish: hinata (fi) French: remorquer (fr) German: schleppen (de) Hungarian: vontat (hu) Italian: rimorchiare (it) Portuguese: rebocar (pt) Russian: букси́ровать (ru) impf (buksírovatʹ), отбукси́ровать (ru) pf (otbuksírovatʹ) Spanish: remolcar (es) Swedish: bogsera (sv)

Noun

tug (plural tugs)

1. A sudden powerful pull.
   • 1697, Virgil, “The Eleventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:

     At the tug he falls, / Vast ruins come along, rent from the smoking walls.

   • 2011 September 24, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC Sport‎:

     But Van Persie slotted home 40 seconds after the break before David Wheater saw red for a tug on Theo Walcott.

2. (nautical) A tugboat.
3. (obsolete) A kind of vehicle used for conveying timber and heavy articles.
   • 1910, Rudyard Kipling, Simple Simon:

     Cattiwi came down the steep lane with his five-horse timber-tug

4. A trace, or drawing strap, of a harness.
5. (mining) An iron hook of a hoisting tub, to which a tackle is affixed.
6. (slang) An act of male masturbation.

   He had a quick tug to calm himself down before his date.

Derived terms

• tug of war

Translations

sudden pull

Finnish: nykäys (fi), nykäisy (fi) French: tirement (fr) German: Ruck (de) m Italian: strattone (it) m Russian: рыво́к (ru) m (ryvók)

tugboat — see tugboat

Anagrams

• GUT, Gut, UTG, gut

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Elfdalian

Noun

tug n

1. train

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

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Ibanag

Noun

tug

1. (anatomy) knee

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Icelandic

Noun

tug

1. inflection of tugur:
   1. indefinite accusative singular
   2. indefinite dative singular

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Scottish Gaelic

Verb

tug

1. past tense of thoir

Usage notes

• This is the dependent form, the basic form being thug.

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Tausug

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tuduʀ.

Verb

tūg (used in the form magtūg)

1. to sleep