What does "slug" mean?
Any of many gastropod mollusks, having no (or only a rudimentary) shell.
Slug
/slʌɡ/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any of many gastropod mollusks, having no (or only a rudimentary) shell.
- Grammar: slug is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: bullet, punch, sluggard, baggage check.
- Useful contrasts: accelerate, buckshot, caress.
- Usage evidence: I'm going to slug you in the gut.
How to use "slug"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "slug" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "slug" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "slug" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "slug" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "slug" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "bullet" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "slug", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of many gastropod mollusks, having no (or only a rudimentary) shell.
- 2 A hard blow, usually with the fist.
- 3 A special-purpose security of the State and Local Government Series. US, informal
- 4 (boxing) a blow with the fist wordnet
- 5 A slow, lazy person; a sluggard. obsolete
Show 25 more definitions
- 6 any of various terrestrial gastropods having an elongated slimy body and no external shell wordnet
- 7 A bullet or other projectile fired from a firearm; in modern usage, generally refers to a shotgun slug.
"[…] all our Ammunition was spent. Those of us who had Money made Slugs of it; their next Shift was to take the middle Screws out of their Guns, and charge their Pieces with them."
- 8 a projectile that is fired from a gun wordnet
- 9 A solid block or piece of roughly shaped metal.
- 10 a strip of type metal used for spacing wordnet
- 11 A counterfeit coin, especially one used to steal from vending machines.
- 12 an amount of an alcoholic drink (usually liquor) that is poured or gulped wordnet
- 13 A shot of a drink, usually alcoholic.
- 14 an idle slothful person wordnet
- 15 A title, name or header, a catchline, a short phrase or title to indicate the content of a newspaper or magazine story for editing use.
- 16 a counterfeit coin wordnet
- 17 The imperial (English) unit of mass that accelerates by 1 foot per second squared (1 ft/s²) when a force of one pound-force (lbf) is exerted on it. rare
"The average slug has a mass of around 0.00002 slugs."
- 18 a unit of mass equal to the mass that accelerates at 1 foot/sec/sec when acted upon by a force of 1 pound; approximately 14.5939 kilograms wordnet
- 19 A discrete mass of a material that moves as a unit, usually through another material.
"This is perhaps best done by considering a unit cell consisting of one bubble and part of the liquid slugs on each side of it…"
- 20 A motile pseudoplasmodium formed by amoebae working together.
- 21 An accessory to a diesel-electric locomotive, used to increase adhesive weight and allow full power to be applied at a lower speed. It has trucks with traction motors, but lacks a prime mover, being powered by electricity from the mother locomotive, and may or may not have a control cab.
- 22 A black screen used to separate broadcast items.
- 23 A piece of type metal imprinted by a linotype machine; also a black mark placed in the margin to indicate an error; also said in application to typewriters; type slug.
- 24 A stranger picked up as a passenger to enable legal use of high occupancy vehicle lanes. regional
- 25 A hitchhiking commuter. US, slang
- 26 The last part of a clean URL, the displayed resource name, similar to a filename.
"Slugs are better than just appending the document ID to the URL, as they are readable and understandable by visitors. They are also an important part of a good SEO. So that we can use slugs, every slug has to be unique."
- 27 A hindrance, an obstruction. obsolete
"money would be stirring, if it were not for this slug"
- 28 A ship that sails slowly.
"His rendezvous for his fleet, and for all sluggs to come to, should be between Calais and Dover."
- 29 A block of text at the beginning of a scene that sets up the scene's location, characters, etc.
- 30 An infertile egg of a reptile.
Verb
- 1 To drink quickly; to gulp; to down.
- 2 To hit very hard, usually with the fist. transitive
"He insulted my mother, so I slugged him."
- 3 strike heavily, especially with the fist or a bat wordnet
- 4 To take part in casual carpooling; to form ad hoc, informal carpools for commuting, essentially a variation of ride-share commuting and hitchhiking.
""We believe in car-pooling, but let's do it without restricting traffic. ..." Sam Snyder, 51, of Burke, who has been slugging to his job at the US Customs ...."
- 5 be idle; exist in a changeless situation wordnet
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 To become reduced in diameter, or changed in shape, by passing from a larger to a smaller part of the bore of the barrel. intransitive
- 7 To move slowly or sluggishly; to lie idle. intransitive, obsolete
"To slug in slouth and sensuall delights."
- 8 To load with a slug or slugs. transitive
"to slug a gun"
- 9 To make sluggish.
"So little do we fear , you slug you"
Antonyms
Example
"I'm going to slug you in the gut."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "slug"?
Common synonyms include: bullet, punch, sluggard, baggage check, ball, bang.
How do you use "slug" in a sentence?
I'm going to slug you in the gut.
How do you pronounce "slug"?
Pronounced /slʌɡ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Originally referred to a slow, lazy person, from Middle English slugge (“lazy person", also "sloth, slothfulness”), probably of either Old English or Old Norse origin; perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sliǵ-ōn, from *sley- (“smooth; slick; sticky; slimy”) or otherwise from the root of Old Norse slókr (“lazy person, oaf”), whence Icelandic slókur (“laziness”). Compare Norn slug (“lazy, slothful, sluggish”), dialectal Norwegian slugg (“a large, heavy body”), sluggje (“heavy, slow person”), Danish slog (“rascal, rogue”). Compare also Dutch slak (“snail, slug”). Doublet of slotch. The sense of a hitchhiking commuter is from the sense of a counterfeit bus token. Bus operators considered sluggers to be cheating as if they were using counterfeit tokens.
Etymology 2
Uncertain. Perhaps somehow from Proto-Germanic *slagiz (“a blow, strike”). If so, then cognate with slay and slaughter; also German Schlag (“blow, hit”) and Dutch slag (“blow, strike”). Also compare slog.