lug
verb (used with object)
to pull or carry with force or effort.
lug
1 American
[luhg]
/ lʌg /
verb (used with object)
-
lugs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lugged,
past participle, past
-
lugging
present participle
-
to pull or carry with force or effort.
to lug a suitcase upstairs.
-
to introduce or interject in an inappropriate or irrelevant manner.
to lug personalities into a discussion of philosophy.
-
(of a sailing ship) to carry an excessive amount of (sail) for the conditions prevailing.
verb (used without object)
-
lugs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
lugged,
past participle, past
-
lugging
present participle
-
to pull or tug laboriously.
-
(of an engine or machine) to jerk, hesitate, or strain.
The engine lugs when we climb a steep hill.
noun
-
an act or instance of lugging; a forcible pull; haul.
-
a wooden box for transporting fruit or vegetables.
-
Slang. a request for or exaction of money, as for political purposes.
They put the lug on him at the office.
lug
2
American
[luhg]
/ lʌg /
noun
-
a projecting piece by which anything is held or supported.
-
a ridge or welt that helps to provide traction, as on a tire or the sole of a shoe.
-
Masonry. either of the ends of a lug sill.
-
Carpentry. (in a double-hung window) one of a pair of projections extending downward from the ends of the meeting rail of the upper sash.
-
a leather loop hanging down from a saddle, through which a shaft is passed for support.
-
Shipbuilding. clip.
-
Slang.
-
an awkward, clumsy fellow.
-
a blockhead.
-
a man; guy.
-
lug
3
American
[luhg]
/ lʌg /
noun
lug
4
American
[luhg]
/ lʌg /
noun
Lug
5
American
[lookh ]
/ lʊx /
noun
lug
1
British
/ lʌɡ /
noun
-
a projecting piece by which something is connected, supported, or lifted
-
Also called: tug. a leather loop used in harness for various purposes
-
a box or basket for vegetables or fruit with a capacity of 28 to 40 pounds
-
dialect another word for ear 1
-
slang a man, esp a stupid or awkward one
lug
2
British
/ lʌɡ /
verb
-
to carry or drag (something heavy) with great effort
-
(tr) to introduce (an irrelevant topic) into a conversation or discussion
-
(tr) (of a sailing vessel) to carry too much (sail) for the amount of wind blowing
noun
lug
3
British
/ lʌɡ /
noun
lug
4
British
/ lʌɡ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
lugsimple
-
lugssimple
-
have luggedperfect
-
has luggedperfect
-
am luggingprogressive
-
are luggingprogressive
-
is luggingprogressive
-
have been luggingperfect progressive
-
has been luggingperfect progressive
Past
-
luggedsimple
-
had luggedperfect
-
was luggingprogressive
-
were luggingprogressive
-
had been luggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lug1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English luggen, from Scandinavian; compare Norwegian lugge, Swedish lugga “to pull by the hair”
Origin of lug2
First recorded in 1485–95; from Scandinavian; compare Norwegian, Swedish lugg “forelock”; see lug 1
Origin of lug3
By shortening
Origin of lug4
First recorded in 1595–1605; earlier lugg; perhaps special use of lug 2
Explanation
To lug something is to drag or haul it. If you have to lug a heavy backpack to school, look into buying a fashionable backpack on wheels. If you overpack for a trip, you might end up having to lug your suitcases around the airport, and if your grocery bag breaks on your way home, you'll have to lug your gallon of milk and bunches of bananas in your arms instead. As a noun, lug has several less common meanings, including "a handle-like projection," and "an asymmetrical four-sized sail." Informally, a lug is also an ear in Scotland, and a bully in North America.
Vocabulary lists containing lug
Essential Three-Letter Words, Part 2
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"Digging" by Seamus Heaney
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The Color of My Words
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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:
Encampment residents lug their bags onto a bus and head to their destinations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2026
Many people over the years have recommended that I get an e-reader so I don’t have to lug around books in my suitcase.
From Slate ● Mar. 8, 2026
Another reported that the artist would wake up at 3 a.m. to lug his supplies to the perfect spot and, in the throes of his work, would forget to eat all day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
A $1,000 bag of silver coins weighs more than 50 pounds, making it cumbersome to lug around.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2025
My father always refused to let him practice this part, saying gently, “That’s enough now,” and insisting on getting back to his feet before Craig could try to lug him down the stairs.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
"Lug nuts do not shake themselves loose and fall off all at the same time without warning," he said.
From Fox News ● Oct. 21, 2021
Lug up some camping chairs, beverages, and flameless candles, and you have a pleasant change of scenery.
From Slate ● May 22, 2020
I was introduced to the routine that the three dozen other riders had already adopted: Lug your duffle bag down from the truck.
From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2019
Lug or tread depth differentiates the R-1 from the R-1W and R-2, with deeper lugs for the wetter soils.
From Time Magazine Archive
Healthful influences and magical charms avert it; hence Lug, a beneficent god, destroys Balor's maleficence.
From The Religion of the Ancient Celts by MacCulloch, J. A.
Every morning, he lugs a five-gallon water tank into his trailer, and he eats lunch with a group of other founders on the site.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Sergei Loznitsa’s Stalin-era drama “Two Prosecutors” lugs its own protagonist along that exact same journey; it’s affixed to cynicism like a train on a track.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2025
The lugs and heroes and bums all change, but not the narrative.
From Seattle Times ● May 31, 2024
Infrastructure also plays a role, with leaks plaguing the network that lugs water up to and across Mexico's high-altitude capital.
From Reuters ● Apr. 27, 2023
Zayd gets up, runs to get Jamal Mamoo’s old book from the family room, and lugs it to the table.
From "Zara’s Rules for Record-Breaking Fun" by Hena Khan
Duchamp clambered into a taxi, packed up his canvas and lugged it home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
In the same central train stations of that city, old women then sold carrots and beets from cardboard boxes they had lugged from their country homes.
From Salon ● Dec. 3, 2025
Potatoes would arrive in huge wooden crates and have to be lugged up from the cellar.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2024
DNC officials lugged large garbage bags packed with signs — their handles sticking out of the bags — to the top edges of the arena.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2024
I lugged the jumbo plastic carrier meant for a twenty-pound dog to an empty corner and set it on the tiled floor.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
Picture, said Hutchcraft, laborers going up and down the rows with bags on their shoulders, picking orange fruit and filling them, and then lugging the bags to tubs at the ends of rows.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
In Fiorito, neighbors come and go to "Diego's house," as they call it, lugging containers which volunteers fill with chicken stew or other meals cooked in giant cauldrons in the yard.
From Barron's ● Apr. 14, 2026
She remembered trailing behind her grandmother cutting roses in her garden, lugging bucketfuls of flowers and inhaling the sweetness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026
Now, he's working on a two-legged version that will require even more responsive legs to keep its balance while lugging Bruton around.
From BBC ● Feb. 5, 2026
On Saturday, we walked back to the farmhouse, lugging the fixed wagon and all the truck parts.
From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon
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.
