tug
verb (used with object)
to pull at with force, vigor, or effort.
had tugged
-
past perfectof tug.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
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.
If he did, if only for a split second, just because temptation had tugged his eyes to a screen, he would have seen the biggest comeback in the ninth inning or later in franchise history.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 3, 2019
Coincidentally her victory came 30 years to the day after the ice-dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean had tugged at the heartstrings of a nation with some ice-capades of their own.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 14, 2017
It felt a little bit like someone had grabbed my belly button, like someone had tugged on it from the inside.”
From Slate ● Nov. 30, 2015
No one had asked me to sign a petition, nobody had brushed alongside me or accidentally spilled something on or near me, no child had tugged at me plaintively.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2015
The city man looked faint, but Honor and Hunter had not only watched the common and counted-on birthings farm people see, but had tugged and twisted newborns from all sorts of canals.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
