tug
tug
Definition
tug (tug)
intransitive verb tugged, tug′·ging
- to exert great effort in pulling; pull hard; drag; haul: often with at
- to labor; toil; struggle
Etymology: ME tuggen, prob. < ON toga, to draw, pull, akin to OE togian (see tow), teon, to pull < IE base *deuk-, to draw, pull > duct
transitive verb
- to pull at with great force; strain at
- to drag; haul
- to tow with a tugboat
noun
- an act or instance of tugging; hard pull
- a great effort or strenuous contest
- a rope, chain, etc. used for tugging or pulling; esp., a trace of a harness
- tugboat
tug′·ger noun
tug
Synonyms
tug
Usage Examples
Preposition: on
- heartstrings: At the same time Dobson is quite prepared to use Blair's patronage to tug on the heartstrings of Labor voters.
- rope: By making a series of tugs on the rope, the diver can communicate at a basic level with the surface diver.
Preposition: at
- heartstrings: Some of these scenes - especially the ones involving the children - really tug at the heartstrings.
- string: The music is stirring and tugs at the heart strings.
Converse of subject
- tow: She set out with 29 hands from Cardiff for Bombay with coals, initially being towed by two tugs.
Converse of object
- feel: Almost immediately I felt the sharp biting tugs from the waiting fish.
Adjective modifier
- ocean-going: My great-uncle, Captain Henry MacKenzie, used to tow the whale catching boats with his ocean-going tug ' Forager ' .
- gravitational: At the great distances of the Oort Cloud, comets can be affected by the gentle gravitational tugs of nearby passing stars.
- sharp: Remove them with a sharp upwards tug, you can place your fingers on the gravel to prevent the bulbs being pulled up.
- gentle: With a gentle tug you can then remove the bottom case of the iMac.
- slight: When a slight tug on the cable fully engaged our hapless driver's brakes he didn't even notice.
- electric: Early in 2001 BW were testing taking trains of boats through Standedge Tunnel using electric tugs.
Modifies a noun
- boat: Only the intervention of the tug boat pilots saved the Titanic from serious harm.
Noun used with modifier
- salvage: Orkney and Shetland are to get all year round salvage tug cover from next year.
- paddle: A powerful paddle steam tug, Conqueror, tried to haul Europa free.
- steam: By the lock is a steam tug, see detail below.
- harbor: The Rozi was a 40 meter harbor tug deliberately sunk in 1991 as an attraction for the operators of glass-bottomed boats.
- rescue: More distressing news came from the skipper of the rescue tug.
Preposition: of
tug Quotes
Crouch, swivel, tug, pull and plop.
