slog

American  

[slog] / slɒg /

verb (used with object)

• slogs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• slogged,
  past participle,  past
• slogging
  present participle

1. to hit hard, as in boxing or cricket; slug.

2. to drive with blows.

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verb (used without object)

• slogs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• slogged,
  past participle,  past
• slogging
  present participle

1. to deal heavy blows.

2. to walk or plod heavily.

3. to toil.

noun

• slogs
  plural

1. a long, tiring walk or march.

2. long, laborious work.

3. a heavy blow.

slog British  

/ slɒɡ /

verb

1. to hit with heavy blows, as in boxing

2. (intr) to work hard; toil

3. (intr; foll by down, up, along, etc) to move with difficulty; plod

4. cricket to score freely by taking large swipes at the ball

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noun

1. a tiring hike or walk

2. long exhausting work

3. a heavy blow or swipe

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• slogger
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• slogs
  plural

Participles

• slogging
  present
• slogged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• slog
  simple
• slogs
  simple
• have slogged
  perfect
• has slogged
  perfect
• am slogging
  progressive
• are slogging
  progressive
• is slogging
  progressive
• have been slogging
  perfect progressive
• has been slogging
  perfect progressive

Past

• slogged
  simple
• had slogged
  perfect
• was slogging
  progressive
• were slogging
  progressive
• had been slogging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will slog
  simple
• will have slogged
  perfect
• will be slogging
  progressive
• will have been slogging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of slog

First recorded in 1850–55; variant of slug ²

Explanation

When you slog, you toil at something, working hard and often slowly to get a difficult job done. You might slog with your shovel through the pile of snow in your driveway. A worker might slog through a pile of papers on her desk, or slog long and hard on a construction crew. In either case, the job requires persistence and determination. Another way to slog is to walk with difficulty, the way someone might slog along a muddy road to the gas station after getting a flat tire. The original meaning of slog was "hit hard," possibly as a variation of slug.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slog slogs slogged slogging

The process of songwriting, rather than being a solitary slog, is a collective joy, rapturously captured in the number “Write a Way.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Lampard acknowledged his players must have thick skins to come through the slog of a Premier League season.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Mr. Mancall’s research is prodigious, though his book is a bit of a slog.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

The company’s most recent financial report to investors, however, showed slumping sales in its North American foods segment, as the consumer slog against inflation continued.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

But more than that, the kindness of the surprise gift was the real treasure—a glimpse of ordinary humanity in the long, terrifying, and hellish slog of battle.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

Let’s be clear: Training camps no longer are the two-a-day-workout, full-contact slogs of decades past.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026

Jordan said in an interview that he intended to closely focus on Domino’s operations as the pizza sector slogs through years of anemic growth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026

Nevertheless, it is important to remember that this isn’t yet a foregone conclusion by any means—and that there are multiple uphill slogs ahead for PSWBD.

From Slate ● Feb. 27, 2026

His first runs came off the inside edge but afterwards he cleanly struck another nine fours and three sixes as he targeted the leg side without resorting to slogs.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2025

I will him to come out to her, but the train jolts and slogs forward and still there is no sign of him; she’s alone.

From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

Jacob Bethell was lbw playing no shot and Stokes' probable successor Harry Brook slogged 21 before holing out.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026

He slogged through his worst three-point shooting season of his career.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026

Musk says he slogged through “production hell” in 2017 and nearly ran out of money as Tesla struggled to mass-produce its new Model 3 sedan.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026

Brook was fortunate to survive on 45 when he slogged Starc and the ball dropped between three chasing fielders.

From Barron's ● Jan. 4, 2026

In a dark windy weather we slogged along, trying to find encouragement in the sighting of Esherhoth Crags, the first thing not ice or snow or sky that we had seen for seven weeks.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

These “ghost jobs” have been a longtime source of frustration and anguish for people slogging through an increasingly anonymous and impersonal job-search process.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

These so-called ghost jobs are a longtime source of frustration and anguish for people slogging through an increasingly anonymous and impersonal job-search process.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Her strike-rate was 180 but there was no slogging, just a succession of classical cricket shots executed to near-perfection.

From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2025

Social media is rife with photos of people slogging along the tracks in the company of toddlers and dogs, hauling picnic gear.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2025

They made their way closer, slogging through the water.

From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi

Related Words

• lumber
• toil
• tramp
• trudge