English Dictionary |
TUG (tugged, tugging)
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
IPA (US): |
Dictionary entry overview: What does tug mean?
• TUG (noun)
The noun TUG has 2 senses:
2. a powerful small boat designed to pull or push larger ships
Familiarity information: TUG used as a noun is rare.
• TUG (verb)
The verb TUG has 7 senses:
2. strive and make an effort to reach a goal
Familiarity information: TUG used as a verb is common.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
A sudden abrupt pull
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Synonyms:
jerk; tug
Hypernyms ("tug" is a kind of...):
pull; pulling (the act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you)
Derivation:
tug (pull hard)
tug (pull or strain hard at)
tug (move by pulling hard)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A powerful small boat designed to pull or push larger ships
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
Hypernyms ("tug" is a kind of...):
boat (a small vessel for travel on water)
Meronyms (parts of "tug"):
helm (steering mechanism for a vessel; a mechanical device by which a vessel is steered)
Derivation:
tug (tow (a vessel) with a tug)
Conjugation: |
Past simple: tugged
Past participle: tugged
-ing form: tugging
Sense 1
Meaning:
Pull hard
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Context example:
This movie tugs at the heart strings
Hypernyms (to "tug" is one way to...):
attract; draw; draw in; pull; pull in (direct toward itself or oneself by means of some psychological power or physical attributes)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Derivation:
tug (a sudden abrupt pull)
tugger (someone who pulls or tugs or drags in an effort to move something)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Strive and make an effort to reach a goal
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Synonyms:
drive; labor; labour; push; tug
Context example:
She is driving away at her doctoral thesis
Hypernyms (to "tug" is one way to...):
fight; struggle (make a strenuous or labored effort)
Verb group:
bear on; push (press, drive, or impel (someone) to action or completion of an action)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tug"):
reach; strain; strive (to exert much effort or energy)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
Sense 3
Meaning:
Tow (a vessel) with a tug
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Context example:
The tugboat tugged the freighter into the harbor
Hypernyms (to "tug" is one way to...):
tow (drag behind)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Derivation:
tug (a powerful small boat designed to pull or push larger ships)
tugger (someone who pulls or tugs or drags in an effort to move something)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Carry with difficulty
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Synonyms:
Context example:
You'll have to lug this suitcase
Hypernyms (to "tug" is one way to...):
carry; transport (move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 5
Meaning:
Move by pulling hard
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Context example:
The horse finally tugged the cart out of the mud
Hypernyms (to "tug" is one way to...):
displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Derivation:
tug (a sudden abrupt pull)
tugger (someone who pulls or tugs or drags in an effort to move something)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Pull or strain hard at
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Context example:
Each oar was tugged by several men
Hypernyms (to "tug" is one way to...):
draw; pull (cause to move by pulling)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Derivation:
tug (a sudden abrupt pull)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Struggle in opposition
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Context example:
She tugged and wrestled with her conflicts
Hypernyms (to "tug" is one way to...):
contend; fight; struggle (be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s
Context examples
Additionally, Mars can often inflame a situation, so you may feel as though you are in a tug of war with the other party and find it hard to extract answers.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
“Come, come!” she cried, tugging at his arm.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And it was he that first gripped another cub by the ear and pulled and tugged and growled through jaws tight-clenched.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
He felt a tug at his arm, and heard a voice saying: Wake up, Bill! What's the matter with you?
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
"I've sent for Mother," said Jo, tugging at her rubber boots with a tragic expression.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
‘Then it must be the other way that the thief took,’ cried the fellow, tugging at my sleeve.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was on a bitterly cold and frosty morning, towards the end of the winter of ’97, that I was awakened by a tugging at my shoulder.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
They tugged his hair with their hands, put their feet upon his back and rolled him about, or they took a hazel-switch and beat him, and when he growled they laughed.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
I glanced back at the coach, and I saw Lady Lade, with her savage little white teeth clenched together, throw herself forward and tug with both hands at the off-side reins.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
This makes it more vulnerable to the impact of tidal forces that tug at it.
(NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory Finds Planet That Makes Star Act Deceptively Old, NASA)
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