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Thug
Definitions
- 1 A person who is a member of a gang or criminal organization.
- 2 an aggressive and violent young criminal wordnet
- 3 A violent, aggressive, or truculent person.
"They call you a land of license—free but to thug and thief."
- 4 A criminal that extorts people.
- 5 A person who use intimidation to coerce others.
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- 6 One of a band of assassins formerly active in northern India who worshipped Kali and sacrificed their victims to her. historical
- 7 One who, usually as a result of social disadvantage, has turned to committing crimes (e.g. selling drugs, robbery, assault, etc.) to make a living; a gangsta.
- 8 An overvigorous plant that spreads and dominates the flowerbed.
- 9 A wooden bat used in the game of miniten, fitting around the player's hand.
- 1 To commit acts of thuggery, to live the life of a thug, to menace, to commit crime. informal, transitive
"Mr. Ingleby ascertained at the office—after threading the mazes of passage and staircase as though he expected momently to be Thugged—that his nephew had not yet come."
- 2 Acting like a criminal or antisocially but with positive connotations wordnet
- 3 (often with out) To appear as a thug; to dress and act in a manner reminiscent of a thug. informal, transitive
"I don’t thug out, but I’m not Wall Street, either. Russell Simmons and Puffy have clothes for this look in the affordable range."
Etymology
From Hindi ठग (ṭhag, “swindler, fraud, cheat”). Thuggee was a network of gangs in India from the 17th century to the 19th century who robbed and murdered travellers, often by strangling and beating their victims to death. During British Imperial rule of India, many Indian words passed into common English, and by 1810 thug referred to a member of these Indian gangs. The sense was adopted more generally as "ruffian, cutthroat, and cruel robber" by 1839. Related to English thatch, deck.
From Hindi ठग (ṭhag, “swindler, fraud, cheat”). Thuggee was a network of gangs in India from the 17th century to the 19th century who robbed and murdered travellers, often by strangling and beating their victims to death. During British Imperial rule of India, many Indian words passed into common English, and by 1810 thug referred to a member of these Indian gangs. The sense was adopted more generally as "ruffian, cutthroat, and cruel robber" by 1839. Related to English thatch, deck.
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