tug

CEFRB2

/tʌɡ/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To pull something hard, usually suddenly.

  2. 02

    noun

    A hard or sudden pull.

Examples

  • The angler felt a strong tug on the line.

  • Tom gave the rope a tug.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To pull hard repeatedly.

  2. To tow by tugboat.

  3. To pull or drag with great effort.

More examples

In context

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

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

  • The police officers tugged the drunkard out of the pub.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

To get the heavy door open, he had to blank it with all his strength.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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.