tug
Americanverb (used with object)
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tugs,
present (3rd person singular)
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tugged,
past participle, past
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tugging
present participle
verb (used without object)
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tugs,
present (3rd person singular)
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tugged,
past participle, past
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tugging
present participle
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to pull with force or effort.
to tug at a stuck drawer.
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to strive hard; labor; toil.
noun
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tugs
plural
verb
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to pull or drag with sharp or powerful movements
the boy tugged at the door handle
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(tr) to tow (a vessel) by means of a tug
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(intr) to work; toil
noun
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a strong pull or jerk
he gave the rope a tug
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Also called: tugboat. towboat. a boat with a powerful engine, used for towing barges, ships, etc
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a hard struggle or fight
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a less common word for trace 2
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tugsimple
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tugssimple
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have tuggedperfect
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has tuggedperfect
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am tuggingprogressive
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are tuggingprogressive
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is tuggingprogressive
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have been tuggingperfect progressive
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has been tuggingperfect progressive
Past
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tuggedsimple
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had tuggedperfect
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was tuggingprogressive
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were tuggingprogressive
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had been tuggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tug
1175–1225; Middle English toggen to play-wrestle, contend; akin to Old English togian to tow 1
Explanation
To tug is to forcefully pull or drag something. You might need your sister's help to tug your knee-high boots off at the end of a long day. A child might tug at his parent's arm and a commuter might tug a rolling suitcase behind her as she enters a subway car. Something else that tugs is a tugboat — and tug is a common nickname for these boats that are designed to pull (or push) other vessels. Tug and tow share the same root word meaning "to pull" or "to lead."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Attia had a very light tug on the shirt of Martinez and slightly stepped on his toe.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
A tug of war for copper between the U.S. and China will keep prices elevated while supply-side risks could continue to tighten the market, the analysts write.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
The wrecked Maginot is owned by Weyland-Yutani, the same group that operates the tug hauler Nostromo on which “Alien” unfolds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Expect stocks to get more volatile from here as inflation, war, and a huge stock listing tug investors in various directions.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
As I reached for the net, I felt a sharp tug.
From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo
So it tugs at my heartstrings to read about New Yorkers having to surrender their cats and dogs to shelters out of financial distress.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
One of the agents tugs at the driver's side door handle.
From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2026
You’re doing fine, but something tugs at you from deep within.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 7, 2026
“Still, it is the roaring thing that tugs away from the very shores we clutch. There is no better compass than this compassion.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2025
She tugs at the sleeve of her tunic.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
It’s a disorienting sight for newcomers who have just passed gas pumps and rows of soda and Slim Jims and tugged on various cooler doors in search of the secret handle.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
But it is the crisis over Greenland that has really tugged at the fabric of the entire transatlantic alliance between the US and Europe.
From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026
"For astronomers, our go-to 'Doppler' method for weighing planets involves making careful measurements of the star's velocity as it's tugged by its retinue of planets." said Erik Petigura, a co-author from UCLA.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 31, 2026
Coaxed and tugged by rangers, a blindfolded giraffe totters into the specialised vehicle that will transport it away from an increasingly hostile environment to a new home in Kenya's eastern Rift Valley.
From Barron's ● Nov. 17, 2025
Ridge tugged at the pull string of a display lamp.
From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly
You can feel the vectored torque tugging at the wheel as it fights off understeer in a tight turn.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
It refers to the way a rotating black hole twists the spacetime around it, tugging on nearby matter such as stars and causing their paths to wobble.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 18, 2025
Omar Fateh steadied himself before the camera and flashed a smile between heavy blinks, the weight of a nearly sleepless night tugging at his eyelids.
From Salon ● Sep. 30, 2025
They also serve as what is called "protective style", which means minimising the daily pulling and tugging on hair that can cause breakages.
From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2025
“SAW” Erlan hissed, tugging the quilt door closed around us.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
