tug
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to pull with force or effort.
to tug at a stuck drawer.
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to strive hard; labor; toil.
noun
verb
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to pull or drag with sharp or powerful movements
the boy tugged at the door handle
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(tr) to tow (a vessel) by means of a tug
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(intr) to work; toil
noun
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a strong pull or jerk
he gave the rope a tug
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Also called: tugboat. towboat. a boat with a powerful engine, used for towing barges, ships, etc
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a hard struggle or fight
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a less common word for trace 2
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tugsimple
-
tugssimple
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have tuggedperfect
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has tuggedperfect
-
am tuggingprogressive
-
are tuggingprogressive
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is tuggingprogressive
-
have been tuggingperfect progressive
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has been tuggingperfect progressive
Past
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tuggedsimple
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had tuggedperfect
-
was tuggingprogressive
-
were tuggingprogressive
-
had been tuggingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tug
1175–1225; Middle English toggen to play-wrestle, contend; akin to Old English togian to tow 1
Explanation
To tug is to forcefully pull or drag something. You might need your sister's help to tug your knee-high boots off at the end of a long day. A child might tug at his parent's arm and a commuter might tug a rolling suitcase behind her as she enters a subway car. Something else that tugs is a tugboat — and tug is a common nickname for these boats that are designed to pull (or push) other vessels. Tug and tow share the same root word meaning "to pull" or "to lead."
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:
These electronically damped wheeled selectors offer three axes of input, using microtorque feedback to imitate the bump and tug of physical detents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
The wrecked Maginot is owned by Weyland-Yutani, the same group that operates the tug hauler Nostromo on which “Alien” unfolds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Expect stocks to get more volatile from here as inflation, war, and a huge stock listing tug investors in various directions.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
With the Iran war now well into its third month, countries are scrambling to circumvent the geopolitical tug of war by transitioning more quickly to renewables.
From Salon ● May 16, 2026
In the darkness of her parlor, Sarah Taylor felt a tug at her skirt, a toddler’s body pressed against her knees.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
You’re doing fine, but something tugs at you from deep within.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 7, 2026
Best among them is the picture of a woman who tugs on a goat’s hooves, the animal largely out of frame, struggling against its weight as she grips a blade between her teeth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
“Still, it is the roaring thing that tugs away from the very shores we clutch. There is no better compass than this compassion.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2025
It found the pilot had not worked with tugs like Biter before and "did not understand" what the tug would be doing on the manoeuvre.
From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2024
I ran them the last two miles to where the stove was and unhooked their tugs so they could rest while I had coffee.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
The Acme plunged into a ditch in Ohio and was tugged out by a passing trolley.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
Her mouth often pulls to the right when she speaks, her admirable non-native English tugged easterly in a Finnish accent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026
But it is the crisis over Greenland that has really tugged at the fabric of the entire transatlantic alliance between the US and Europe.
From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026
"For astronomers, our go-to 'Doppler' method for weighing planets involves making careful measurements of the star's velocity as it's tugged by its retinue of planets." said Erik Petigura, a co-author from UCLA.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 31, 2026
When she looked in the mirror, Danny noticed the way her smile tugged down at the corners.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
You can feel the vectored torque tugging at the wheel as it fights off understeer in a tight turn.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
It refers to the way a rotating black hole twists the spacetime around it, tugging on nearby matter such as stars and causing their paths to wobble.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 18, 2025
The starchy pasta water, slowly whisked in, binds it all into a sauce that clings and stretches, tugging at each bite with just enough tension to remind you that this is pasta, not soup.
From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2025
A third of it wants to be a feisty industry satire, but the rest believes there’s prestige value in tugging on the heartstrings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2025
Ivy frowned and shook her head disapprovingly, but she didn’t keep tugging Josie toward the exit, just back closer to the wall.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
