pug.
Senses relating to someone or something small.
Meaning & usage
Senses relating to someone or something small. A pug dog, a small dog of an ancient breed originating in China, having a snub nose, wrinkled face, squarish body, short smooth hair, and curled tail.
Senses relating to someone or something small. A pug moth, often with a descriptive word: any geometrid moth of the tribe Eupitheciini, especially the genus Eupithecia; a geometer moth.
Senses relating to someone or something small. In full pug hood: a hood, sometimes with a short cloak attached, worn by women around the middle of the 18th century.
Senses relating to someone or something small. In full pug engine: a small locomotive chiefly used for shunting (“moving trains from one track to another, or carriages from one train to another”).
Senses relating to someone or something small. Also used as a proper name: any of various animals, such as a ferret, hare, squirrel, or young salmon.
Senses relating to someone or something small. Also used as a proper name: any of various animals, such as a ferret, hare, squirrel, or young salmon. Synonym of teg (“a sheep (originally a ewe) in its second year, or from the time it is weaned until it is first shorn”).
Senses relating to someone or something small. Also used as a proper name: any of various animals, such as a ferret, hare, squirrel, or young salmon. An ape, a monkey; also (by extension) a human child.
Senses relating to someone or something small. Also used as a proper name: any of various animals, such as a ferret, hare, squirrel, or young salmon. A fox.
Senses relating to someone or something small. A person or thing that is squat (“broad and short”).
Senses relating to someone or something small. A bun or knot of hair; also, a piece of cloth or snood for holding this in place.
Senses relating to someone or something small. A small demon; an imp, a puck, a sprite.
Senses relating to people. Chiefly used by servants: A senior or upper servant in a household.
Senses relating to people. A mistress, or a female prostitute; also (generally, derogatory) a woman.
Senses relating to people. A term of endearment for a person, or sometimes an animal or a toy such as a doll.
Senses relating to people. A bargeman.
Senses relating to people. A cabin boy, a shipboy or ship's boy.
Where this word comes from
Origin unknown, possibly related to West Flemish pugge (“(adjective) small; (noun) short person; pet name derived from the first name Pugge”); though it is uncertain whether sense 1 (“senses relating to someone or something small”) and sense 2 (“senses relating to people”) are derived from the same source. Etymology 1 sense 1.8 (“small demon”) was probably influenced by, though not a variant of, puck.
The footprint or pawprint of an animal; a pugmark.
Where this word comes from
The noun is borrowed from Hindi पग (pag, “step; (less common) foot; leg”), from Old Hindi पगु (pagu), from Sanskrit पद्ग (padga), from पद् (pad, “step; foot”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step; to walk; to fall; to stumble”)) + ग (ga, stem at the ends of compounds denoting going or moving) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- (“to step”)). The verb is derived from the noun.
To track (an animal) by following pawprints; also (by extension) to track (a person) by following footprints.
Where this word comes from
The noun is borrowed from Hindi पग (pag, “step; (less common) foot; leg”), from Old Hindi पगु (pagu), from Sanskrit पद्ग (padga), from पद् (pad, “step; foot”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step; to walk; to fall; to stumble”)) + ग (ga, stem at the ends of compounds denoting going or moving) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- (“to step”)). The verb is derived from the noun.
To hit or punch (someone or something); also, to poke (someone or something).
To fill or stop up (a space) with pug (noun etymology 5, noun sense 1), clay, sawdust, or other material by tamping; (specifically) to fill in (the space between joists of a floor, a partition, etc.) with some material to deaden sound, make fireproof, etc.
To mix and work (wet clay) until flexible, soft, and free from air pockets and suitable for making bricks, pottery, etc.
to pug clay ready for shaping
Of cattle, etc.: to trample (the ground, a place, etc.) until it becomes muddy and soft; to poach.
To pack or tamp (something) into a small space.
To pack or tamp into a small space.
Where this word comes from
The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly: * related to southern Dutch puggen (“to hit hard”), German pucken (“to beat, thump”), possibly ultimately imitative; or * related to poke (verb). It is also uncertain whether the various senses are derived from the same source. The origin of the noun is also uncertain; it is probably related to the verb.
Clay, soil, or other material which has been mixed and worked until flexible, soft, and free from air pockets and thus suitable for making bricks, pottery, etc.; also, any other material with a similar consistency or function, especially (Australia) auriferous (“gold-bearing”) clay.
Ellipsis of pug mill (“kind of mill for grinding, mixing, and working clay”).
Where this word comes from
The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly: * related to southern Dutch puggen (“to hit hard”), German pucken (“to beat, thump”), possibly ultimately imitative; or * related to poke (verb). It is also uncertain whether the various senses are derived from the same source. The origin of the noun is also uncertain; it is probably related to the verb.
To pull or tug (something).
To spoil (something) by touching too much.
Followed by at: to pull or tug.
Where this word comes from
Origin unknown; etymology 6 sense 1.2 (“to spoil (something) by touching too much”) is possibly influenced by pug (verb, noun) (see etymology 5) or puggy.
The residue left after pressing apples for cider; pomace.
Often in the plural: the husks and other refuse removed from grain by winnowing; chaff.
Where this word comes from
From Late Middle English pugge (“husk of grain”); further etymology unknown, possibly related to pug (verb) (see etymology 5). However, the latter is only attested much later.
Alternative letter-case form of PuG (“a group of players who are unknown to each other, grouped together to work toward a short-term goal such as completing a dungeon or a raid”).
Where this word comes from
Acronym of pickup group.
Clipping of pugilist (“one who fights with their fists, especially a professional prize fighter; a boxer”).
Where this word comes from
Clipping of pugilist.
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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.