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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

lug.

The act of hauling or dragging.

3 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/lʌɡ/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/lɐɡ/Australia, New-Zealand/lʊɡ/Northern-England
  1. The act of hauling or dragging.

    a hard lug
  2. That which is hauled or dragged.

    The pack is a heavy lug.
  3. Anything that moves slowly.

  4. A lug nut.

  5. A device for terminating an electrical conductor to facilitate the mechanical connection; to the conductor it may be crimped to form a cold weld, soldered or have pressure from a screw.

  6. A part of something which sticks out, used as a handle or support.

  7. A large, clumsy, awkward man; a fool.

  8. An ear or ear lobe.

    UK
    While shaving, the poor sod had a fit and cut part of a lug off.
  9. A wood box used for transporting fruit or vegetables.

  10. A request for money, as for political purposes.

    slang
    They put the lug on him at the courthouse.
  11. A lugworm.

  12. A pull or drag on a cigarette.

    informal
Where this word comes from

From Middle English luggen, possibly from a Scandinavian/North Germanic source, (compare Swedish lugga, Norwegian lugge); also in English dialectal as lig (“to lug”). Noun is via Scots lugge, probably from Old Norse (compare Norwegian and Swedish lugg). Probably related to slug (“lazy, slow-moving”), which may be from similar source(s).

verb/lʌɡ/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/lɐɡ/Australia, New-Zealand/lʊɡ/Northern-England
  1. To haul or drag along (especially something heavy); to carry; to pull.

    figuratively · sometimes · transitive
    Why do you always lug around so many books?
  2. To run at too slow a speed.

    transitive
    When driving up a hill, choose a lower gear so you don't lug the engine.
  3. To carry an excessive amount of sail for the conditions prevailing.

    transitive
  4. To pull toward the inside rail ("lugging in") or the outside rail ("lugging out") during a race.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English luggen, possibly from a Scandinavian/North Germanic source, (compare Swedish lugga, Norwegian lugge); also in English dialectal as lig (“to lug”). Noun is via Scots lugge, probably from Old Norse (compare Norwegian and Swedish lugg). Probably related to slug (“lazy, slow-moving”), which may be from similar source(s).

noun/lʌɡ/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/lɐɡ/Australia, New-Zealand/lʊɡ/Northern-England
  1. A rod or pole.

    UK · dialectal
  2. A measure of length equal to 16+¹⁄₂ feet.

    UK · archaic · dialectal
  3. A lugsail.

  4. The leather loop or ear by which a shaft is held up.

  5. A loop (or protuberance) found on both arms of a hinge, featuring a hole for the axis of the hinge.

  6. A ridge or other protuberance on the surface of a body to increase traction or provide a hold for holding and moving it.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English lugge (“pole, stick, staff”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.