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View synonyms for mug

mug

[ muhg ]

noun

  1. a drinking cup, usually cylindrical in shape, having a handle, and often of a heavy substance, as earthenware.
  2. the quantity it holds.
  3. Slang.
    1. the face.
    2. the mouth.
    3. an exaggerated facial expression; grimace, as in acting.
    4. a thug, ruffian, or other criminal.
  4. British Slang. a gullible person; dupe; fool.


verb (used with object)

, mugged, mug·ging.
  1. to assault or menace, especially with the intention of robbery.
  2. Slang. to photograph (a person), especially in compliance with an official or legal requirement.

verb (used without object)

, mugged, mug·ging.
  1. Slang. to grimace; exaggerate a facial expression, as in acting.

mug

1

/ mʌɡ /

noun

  1. slang.
    a person's face or mouth

    get your ugly mug out of here!

  2. slang.
    a grimace
  3. slang.
    a gullible person, esp one who is swindled easily
  4. a mug's game
    a worthless activity
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


verb

  1. informal.
    tr to attack or rob (someone) violently
  2. slang.
    intr to pull faces or overact, esp in front of a camera
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

mug

2

/ mʌɡ /

noun

  1. a drinking vessel with a handle, usually cylindrical and made of earthenware
  2. Also calledmugful the quantity held by a mug or its contents
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of mug1

First recorded in 1560–70; probably from Scandinavian; compare Swedish mugg, Norwegian, Danish mugge “drinking cup”; sense “face” apparently transferred from cups adorned with grotesque faces; sense “to assault” from earlier pugilistic slang “to strike in the face, fight”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of mug1

C18: perhaps from mug 1, since drinking vessels were sometimes modelled into the likeness of a face

Origin of mug2

C16: probably from Scandinavian; compare Swedish mugg
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Example Sentences

To this day, Bush media maven Roger Ailes adamantly denies that he or the campaign had any role in the Willie Horton mug shot ad.

He plants himself on an outdoor couch, stirs Nesquik into a mug, and leans forward.

Beside the mug shot of McCollum was one of a man named Wayne Laws.

You know, he dug up 32-year-old mug shots of me that I had never even seen before, that had never been posted.

When he turned himself in, he wore a smirk in his mug shot, and then he went out for ice cream with reporters in tow.

In Tiefurt we partook of a magnificent collation consisting of a mug of beer, brown bread and sausage!

He put his hand to his belt, screwed up his mug, and said he felt plumb et up inside.

Ever see anything more fetching than those great Irish eyes in a regular little Dago mug?

The skipper of the smack invited Jim to go below, and handed him a steaming mug of tea.

He went into the room below, knocked the neck off a wine bottle and poured the contents into a mug and drank, smacking his lips.

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