jug
1 Americannoun
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a large container usually made of earthenware, metal, or glass, commonly having a handle, a narrow neck, and sometimes a cap or cork.
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the contents of such a container; jugful.
a jug of wine.
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Slang: Vulgar. jugs, a woman's breasts.
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Slang. bank.
Yeah, I drove him, but I didn't know he went in the jug to rob the place.
verb (used with object)
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to put into a jug.
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to stew (meat) in an earthenware jug.
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Slang. to put in jail; imprison.
noun
verb (used without object)
noun
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US equivalent: pitcher. a vessel for holding or pouring liquids, usually having a handle and a spout or lip
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such a vessel used as a kettle
an electric jug
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a large vessel with a narrow mouth
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Also called: jugful. the amount of liquid held by a jug
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informal a glass of alcoholic drink, esp beer
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a slang word for jail
verb
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to stew or boil (meat, esp hare) in an earthenware container
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slang (tr) to put in jail
Etymology
Origin of jug1
First recorded in 1530–40; perhaps special use of Jug, diminutive or pet name of Joan, a woman's name
Origin of jug2
First recorded in 1515–25; imitative
Explanation
Many people buy their milk in a jug, a large container with a handle and a small opening at the top. A jug usually has a fairly small spout or mouth at the top; a gallon milk container is one kind of jug, usually made of plastic. Other jugs are made of clay or glass. In some countries, beer comes in a jug, and in others water is collected and carried in a jug. Earthenware jugs can actually be played as musical instruments, often in a jug band — the player blows across the opening and holds the jug at different angles.
Vocabulary lists containing jug
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:
Within the exhibition halls, a bedroom, living room and kitchen -- complete with a glass jug, coffee pot, and spice containers -- recreate details of daily life in the homes of southern Lebanese residents.
From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026
The actor and host brings a gallon jug of water with him everywhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 8, 2026
Each time a downpour begins, Scott strips down to the waist, grabs a large glass jug, and runs out to one of three drainpipes to collect enough water to last the week.
From Slate ● Mar. 30, 2026
The family-owned Mexican restaurant is the kind of place he’s gravitated toward since starting a jug band with friends in Long Beach before migrating to Los Angeles’ folk/rock scene.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2026
I filled the big earthenware jug with water in the kitchen, and Brett put the roses in it, and placed them in the centre of the dining-room table.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
Others include jugged hare and flummery - an oat-based fermented jelly, associated with farmhouse production and poverty.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
Without tannins, cider can taste flabby, one-dimensional, limp—and in need of flavorings to mask the fact that it tastes like, well, jugged juice.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2016
Sixty years after Teller William Sydney Porter was jugged for embezzling $854.08 from an Austin bank, the Texas Heritage Foundation asked the President for a posthumous pardon.
From Time Magazine Archive
In Casper, Wyo., L. D. Mudge bravely entered a police station to bail out a pal, got jugged as an escaped prisoner when a cop saw through his set of false whiskers.
From Time Magazine Archive
“For the last time for eight months we really had as much as we could eat. Anchovies in oil, baked beans, and jugged hare made a glorious mixture.”
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
According to the FBI, jugging has surged during the pandemic.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 27, 2022
According to a recent report from ABC’s “Good Morning America,” the city of Austin has had 84 jugging cases this year.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 27, 2022
When the Marathon was three-fourths finished, he was just an obscure also-ran, jugging along in tenth place, eighth place.
From Time Magazine Archive
Ground game at that, for Coracle is in the act of "jugging" a hare.
From Gwen Wynn by Mayne Reid
“You don’t want that brass falling out, and them tracing you down here and jugging you–you fool,” she panted as she climbed to the ground.
From In the Heart of a Fool by William Allen White
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.
