From Middle English tuggen, from Old English togian (“to tow”), from Proto-West Germanic *togōn, from Proto-Germanic *tugōną (“to draw, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to draw, pull; to lead”).
Cognates
Cognate with German zögern (“to hesitate, pause”), Faroese and Icelandic toga (“to pull”), French touer (“to tow, tug a ship”); also Welsh dwyn (“to steal; to take; to bring to”), Latin dūcō (“to conduct, guide, lead; to take; to draw, pull; to consider, think; to prolong; to march; to forge”), Ancient Greek δαδύσσομαι (dadússomai, “to be distracted”), Albanian nduk (“to pluck out, pull out, tear”), Central Kurdish دۆشین (doşîn, “to milk”), Northern Kurdish dotin, doşîn, دۆشین (doşîn, “to milk”), Ossetian ду́цын (dúcyn, “to milk”), Pashto لوشل (lwašal, “to milk; to extort”), Persian دوشیدن (dōšīdan / dušidan), دوشتن (duštan), دوختن (dōxtan / duxtan, “to milk”). Related to tow.
Meanings
A sudden powerful pull.
But Van Persie slotted home 40 seconds after the break before David Wheater saw red for a tug on Theo Walcott. 2011 September 24, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC Sport:
At the tug he falls, / Vast ruins come along, rent from the smoking walls. 1697, Virgil, “The Eleventh Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
Even though the authors note that they have not "exhausted the subject of San Francisco's queer history," the hope is that enough of "us" outside the Bay Area will find something of ourselves represented in the book and will feel that tug of connection to and solidarity with the gay capital's community. 1996 September, Doreen Drury, “The Gay Capital of the World”, in Gay Community News, page 22:
A tugboat.
Shipping of every sort, from passenger liners to ferry steamers, tramps to tugs and trailing barges, feluccas to speedboats and yachts, from warships to caiques, chugs, hoots, glides or churns its way in all directions. 1950 July, J. C. Mertens, “By the "Taurus Express" to Baghdad”, in Railway Magazine, page 435:
A type of tractor used for moving trailers.
Trailers are delivered by road to Poole, Portsmouth, or Rosslare in Ireland. They are then loaded onto ferries by dockyard tractors called "tugs". After crossing the Channel, the driverless loads are disembarked by tug and taken to the specially constructed freight terminal in Cherbourg port. Each rail wagon holds two lorry trailers and features a new 'pivoting pocket' which moves through 45° to allow the tug to push the trailer onto the wagon from alongside. 2025 August 20, Paul Clifton, “Ro Ro Rail takes the freight train to Spain”, in RAIL, number 1042, page 49:
(obsolete) A kind of vehicle used for conveying timber and heavy articles.
Cattiwi came down the steep lane with his five-horse timber-tug 1910, Rudyard Kipling, Simple Simon:
A trace, or drawing strap, of a harness.
A dog toy consisting of a rope, often with a knot in it.
An iron hook of a hoisting tub, to which a tackle is affixed.
(slang) An act of male masturbation.
He had a quick tug to calm himself down before his date.
From Middle English tuggen, from Old English togian (“to tow”), from Proto-West Germanic *togōn, from Proto-Germanic *tugōną (“to draw, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to draw, pull; to lead”).
Cognates
Cognate with German zögern (“to hesitate, pause”), Faroese and Icelandic toga (“to pull”), French touer (“to tow, tug a ship”); also Welsh dwyn (“to steal; to take; to bring to”), Latin dūcō (“to conduct, guide, lead; to take; to draw, pull; to consider, think; to prolong; to march; to forge”), Ancient Greek δαδύσσομαι (dadússomai, “to be distracted”), Albanian nduk (“to pluck out, pull out, tear”), Central Kurdish دۆشین (doşîn, “to milk”), Northern Kurdish dotin, doşîn, دۆشین (doşîn, “to milk”), Ossetian ду́цын (dúcyn, “to milk”), Pashto لوشل (lwašal, “to milk; to extort”), Persian دوشیدن (dōšīdan / dušidan), دوشتن (duštan), دوختن (dōxtan / duxtan, “to milk”). Related to tow.
Meanings
(transitive) To pull or drag with great effort.
The police officers tugged the drunkard out of the pub.
(transitive) To pull hard repeatedly.
He lost his patience trying to undo his shoe-lace, but tugging it made the knot even tighter.
nl trekken (to pull with great effort) · mr जोराने खेचणे (to pull with great effort) · bg влача (to pull with great effort) · ru букси́ровать (to tow by tugboat) · ru дёргать (to pull repeatedly) · hu vontat (to tow by tugboat) · ro smuci (to pull with great effort) · sv bogsera (to tow by tugboat) · ru тяну́ть (to pull with great effort) · da bugsere (to tow by tugboat) · fi kiskoa (to pull repeatedly) · ru отбукси́ровать (to tow by tugboat) · mi kāhakihaki (to pull repeatedly) · hu húzogat (to pull repeatedly) · es remolcar (to tow by tugboat) · fi riuhtaista (to pull with great effort) · bg тегля (to pull with great effort) · ota یدمك (to pull with great effort) · de zerren (to pull repeatedly) · hu cibál (to pull repeatedly) · fi hinata (to tow by tugboat) · hu vonszol (to pull with great effort) · ota یدمك (to tow by tugboat) · de zerren (to pull with great effort) · it tirare (to pull repeatedly) · hu ráncigál (to pull repeatedly) · fi riuhtoa (to pull repeatedly) · es halar (to pull with great effort) · fi nykiä (to pull repeatedly) · es jalar (to pull with great effort) · sv dra (to pull repeatedly) · it trascinare (to pull with great effort) · fi raahata (to pull with great effort) · ru тащи́ть (to pull with great effort) · ro trage (to pull with great effort) · bg взимам на буксир (to tow by tugboat) · hu rángat (to pull repeatedly) · fr remorquer (to tow by tugboat) · ru потащи́ть (to pull with great effort) · ru дёрнуть (to pull repeatedly) · fr tirer (to pull with great effort) · es tironear (to pull repeatedly) · de schleppen (to tow by tugboat) · es jalonear (to pull repeatedly) · sv släpa (to pull with great effort) · fr tirer (to pull repeatedly) · ru потяну́ть (to pull with great effort) · it rimorchiare (to tow by tugboat) · fi kiskaista (to pull with great effort) · es tirar (to pull with great effort) · nl rukken (to pull repeatedly) · fi nykäistä (to pull with great effort) · pt rebocar (to tow by tugboat) · nl slepen (to tow by tugboat) · oc tirar (to pull with great effort) · bg дърпам (to pull repeatedly) · sv dra (to pull with great effort)