slug

¹ American  

[sluhg] / slʌg /

noun

1. any of various snaillike terrestrial gastropods having no shell or only a rudimentary one, feeding on plants and a pest of leafy garden crops.

2. a nudibranch.

3. a metal disk used as a coin or token, generally counterfeit.

4. a piece of lead or other metal for firing from a gun.

5. any heavy piece of crude metal.

6. Printing.

   1. a thick strip of type metal less than type-high.

   2. such a strip containing a type-high number or other character for temporary use.

   3. a line of type in one piece, as produced by a Linotype.

7. Informal. a shot of liquor taken neat; belt.

8. Slang. a person who is lazy or slow-moving; sluggard.

9. a slow-moving animal, vehicle, or the like.

10. Journalism.

    1. Also called catchline.  a short phrase or title used to indicate the story content of newspaper or magazine copy.

    2. the line of type carrying this information.

11. Metalworking. a small piece of metal ready for processing.

12. a gold coin of California, privately issued in 1849 and for some time after, worth 50 dollars.

13. Physics. a unit of mass, equivalent to approximately 32.2 pounds (15 kilograms) and having the property that a force of one pound acting upon a mass of this unit produces an acceleration of one foot per second per second.

14. an irregular projection or knob on the surface of yarn, usually produced by lint or by defects in weaving.

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verb (used with object)

slugged, slugging

1. Printing.

   1. to make (corrections) by replacing entire lines of type, especially as set by a Linotype.

   2. to check the lines of (typeset copy) against copy of the previous typesetting stage to ensure that no line has been omitted, especially before printing or plating.

2. Journalism. to furnish (copy) with a slug.

3. to interpolate pieces of metal into (a joint being welded).

slug ² American  

[sluhg] / slʌg /

verb (used with object)

slugged, slugging

1. to strike heavily; hit hard, especially with the fist.

   Synonyms:

   whale, tag, smite, slam, punch, pound, nail, knock, hammer, crack, strike, hit

2. to hit or drive (a baseball) very hard or a great distance.

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verb (used without object)

slugged, slugging

1. to hit or be capable of hitting hard.

2. to trudge, fight, or push onward, as against obstacles or through mud or snow.

   The infantry slugged up the hill and dug in.

noun

1. a hard blow or hit, especially with a fist or baseball bat.

   Synonyms:

   thwack, thump, whack, wallop, smash, knock, jab, hit, cuff, clip, box, blow

idioms

1. slug it out,

   1. to fight, especially with fists, until a decisive victory has been achieved.

   2. to succeed or survive by constant and intense struggle.

slug ¹ British  

/ slʌɡ /

noun

1. an fps unit of mass; the mass that will acquire an acceleration of 1 foot per second per second when acted upon by a force of 1 pound. 1 slug is approximately equal to 32.17 pounds

2. metallurgy a metal blank from which small forgings are worked

3. a bullet or pellet larger than a pellet of buckshot

4. a metal token for use in slot machines, etc

5. printing

   1. a thick strip of type metal that is less than type-high and is used for spacing

   2. a similar strip carrying a type-high letter, used as a temporary mark by compositors

   3. a metal strip containing a line of characters as produced by a linecaster

6. a draught of a drink, esp an alcoholic one

7. a magnetic core that is screwed into or out of an inductance coil to adjust the tuning of a radio frequency amplifier

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slug ² British  

/ slʌɡ /

verb

1. to hit very hard and solidly, as in boxing

2. (intr) to plod as if through snow

3. informal (tr) to charge (someone) an exorbitant price

4. informal to fight, compete, or struggle with fortitude

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noun

1. an act of slugging; heavy blow

2. informal an exorbitant charge or price

slug ³ British  

/ slʌɡ /

noun

1. any of various terrestrial gastropod molluscs of the genera Limax, Arion, etc, in which the body is elongated and the shell is absent or very much reduced Compare sea slug

2. any of various other invertebrates having a soft slimy body, esp the larvae of certain sawflies

3. informal a slow-moving or lazy person or animal

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Other Word Forms

• sluglike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of slug¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English slugge “sluggard,” from Scandinavian; compare Norwegian (dialectal) sluggje “heavy, slow person”

Origin of slug²

First recorded in 1845–50; perhaps from slug ¹

Explanation

Use the word slug to mean "bullet," "slimy, land-dwelling mollusk," or "super lazy person." If your mom finds you on the couch as often as she finds slugs in her garden, she'll call you a slug too. When it's a verb, slug means "hit," so you might say, "That bully's always threatening to slug me." As a noun, slug can also mean "a blow," or "a gulp." But if your little brother is barefoot outside and suddenly screams, "Yuck, I stepped on a slug!" he is most likely talking about the squishy invertebrate that leaves a trail of slime behind it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slug slugged slugging

Bonta and Paramount are now poised to slug it out next spring in an Oakland courtroom.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

Arable farmers may soon be able to stop slugs eating their crops thanks to research by a Shropshire-based university and the work of "slug sleuth" farmers.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

A few months later, Trump and Bill Pulte, who helms the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said that the White House was considering selling a small slug of shares.

From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026

That includes $10 billion courtesy of Berkshire Hathaway, which is buying a slug of the company’s two classes of shares at about a 7% discount to their 30-day average.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

One night in Valdez and already he’d turned into a lazy slug.

From "I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964" by Lauren Tarshis

The labor market’s recovery adds to signs Canada’s economy is settling after being slugged by trade uncertainty and U.S. tariffs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

He slugged it out brilliantly with Mr Vango that day; the two of them were like Wilder-Chisora take two.

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026

“In the end, they not only ran it back, they sprinted it back, they slugged it back, and then, finally, they literally Will-ed it back,” I wrote.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 31, 2025

He was facing Cardinals catcher Pedro Pagés, a weak hitter who slugged .363 for the year.

From Slate ● Nov. 11, 2025

I could have slugged him, but I sighed instead, got out the differential-equations book with the log tables in them, and went back through all the equations.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam

He hit only .205 in July, with a slugging percentage of .313.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Mr. Lewis documented how Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, seemed to have figured out offense by emphasizing slugging and on-base percentage over batting average.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Tampa Bay added Freddy Peralta—one of the best pitchers in the National League in 2025 who has struggled in 2026—as well as slugging catcher Liam Hicks and shutdown reliever Tyler Wells.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Slimp earned first-team all-Big Ten honors as the leadoff hitter for a Bruins team that features slugging stars Megan Grant and Jordan Woolery.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026

We stood on the tile in our bare feet, slugging down the cool, smooth water.

From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon

Related Words

• bang
• bash
• bat
• belt
• knock
• punch
• slam
• slap
• smack
• swat
• whack