Lug
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 The act of hauling or dragging.
"a hard lug"
- 2 A rod or pole. UK, dialectal
"And from the bodies [of pines and oaks] the boughes and loftie lugges they beare."
- 3 Initialism of lesbian until graduation. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
"If “bi now, gay later” is one side of an offensive, disrespectful coin, the LUG (or “lesbian until graduation”) stereotype is its counterpart."
- 4 marine worms having a row of tufted gills along each side of the back; often used for fishing bait wordnet
- 5 That which is hauled or dragged.
"The pack is a heavy lug."
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- 6 A measure of length equal to 16+¹⁄₂ feet. UK, archaic, dialectal
"eight lugs of grownd; / Into the which returning backe, he fell"
- 7 Initialism of Linux user group. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 8 a projecting piece that is used to lift or support or turn something wordnet
- 9 Anything that moves slowly.
"whereof the one is quick of cast, trick, and trim both for pleasure and profit: the other is a lug"
- 10 A lugsail.
- 11 a sail with four corners that is hoisted from a yard that is oblique to the mast wordnet
- 12 A lug nut.
- 13 The leather loop or ear by which a shaft is held up.
- 14 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.
- 15 A loop (or protuberance) found on both arms of a hinge, featuring a hole for the axis of the hinge.
- 16 A part of something which sticks out, used as a handle or support.
- 17 A ridge or other protuberance on the surface of a body to increase traction or provide a hold for holding and moving it.
- 18 A large, clumsy, awkward man; a fool.
- 19 An ear or ear lobe. UK
"While shaving, the poor sod had a fit and cut part of a lug off."
- 20 A wood box used for transporting fruit or vegetables.
- 21 A request for money, as for political purposes. slang
"They put the lug on him at the courthouse."
- 22 A lugworm.
- 23 A pull or drag on a cigarette. informal
"He took another long lug on his cigarette before continuing quietly, 'I've seen too much and it was seriously screwing me up. […]"
- 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 carry with difficulty wordnet
- 3 To run at too slow a speed. transitive
"When driving up a hill, choose a lower gear so you don't lug the engine."
- 4 obstruct wordnet
- 5 To carry an excessive amount of sail for the conditions prevailing. transitive
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- 6 To pull toward the inside rail ("lugging in") or the outside rail ("lugging out") during a race. intransitive
- 1 Alternative spelling of Lugh. alt-of, alternative
Example
More examples"The engine was seized and the lug nuts were frozen on all four wheels."
Etymology
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).
From Middle English lugge (“pole, stick, staff”).
Related phrases
More for "lug"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.