TUG • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Tug

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noun

Tug n.

A pull with the utmost effort, as in the athletic contest called tug of war; a supreme effort. "At the tug he falls, Vast ruins come along, rent from the smoking walls."

A sort of vehicle, used for conveying timber and heavy articles. (Prov. Eng.)

(Naut.) A small, powerful steamboat used to tow vessels; called also steam tug, tugboat, and towboat.

A trace, or drawing strap, of a harness.

(Mining.) An iron hook of a hoisting tub, to which a tackle is affixed.

Tug iron, an iron hook or button to which a tug or trace may be attached, as on the shaft of a wagon.

verb

Tug v. t. (past & past part. tugged; pres. part. tugging)

To pull or draw with great effort; to draw along with continued exertion; to haul along; to tow; as, to tug a loaded cart; to tug a ship into port. "There sweat, there strain, tug the laborious oar."

To pull; to pluck. (Obs.) "To ease the pain, His tugged cars suffered with a strain."

Tug v. i.

To pull with great effort; to strain in labor; as, to tug at the oar; to tug against the stream. "He tugged, he shook, till down they came."

To labor; to strive; to struggle. "England now is left To tug and scamble and to part by the teeth The unowed interest of proud-swelling state."

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Etymology of 'Tug'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tug" Quotes from Famous Books

... back here! You'll come upstairs and let them alone; that's what you'll do!" And with such passionate determination did she clutch and tug, never losing a grip of him somewhere, though George tried as much as he could, without hurting her, to wrench away—with such utter forgetfulness of her maiden dignity did she assault him, that she forced him, stumbling upward, to ...

— The Magnificent Ambersons • Booth Tarkington

... not understand and she stood there, just beyond the threshold, uncertainly. But if she did not understand why Mrs. Schuneman's daughters did not stay in the room with the red tug, she realized that Mrs. ...

— Mary Rose of Mifflin • Frances R. Sterrett

... Now came the tug of war. Would he meet Aunt Temperance? or would that formidable and irresistible individual pounce upon him from the door? But all was still, and he reached the Golden Fish without ...

— It Might Have Been - The Story of the Gunpowder Plot • Emily Sarah Holt

... 10.45, but soon found that we were unable to move the full loads owing to the blue ice surface, so took to relaying. We advanced under three miles after ten hours' distracting work—mostly pulling the sledges ourselves, jerking, heaving, straining, and cursing—it was tug-of-war work and should have broken our hearts, but in spite of our adversity we all ended up smiling and camped ...

— South with Scott • Edward R. G. R. Evans

... their duty) to get on board at Sandy Hook, and to frustrate them a special steamer was sent down with instructions to the captain of the liner that no one was to accompany the officer of health on board. The medical officer came in his tug with the whole batch of reporters, and declared that he would not permit the vessel to proceed into port unless his friends were allowed on board. The almighty dollar had polluted officialism, and disclosed to the incoming strangers that the huge statue of Liberty before them, which held on ...

— The Confessions of a Caricaturist, Vol 2 (of 2) • Harry Furniss

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