Tug
noun
A quick pull or sudden act of pulling.
She gave a little tug on the rope
Often appears as...
- tug of war
- tug at heartstrings
verb
To pull something strongly or suddenly.
She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention
Often appears as...
- tug at
- tug on
noun
A struggle or contest.
The committee's decision was a tug of war between two factions
Often appears as...
- tug of war
- power tug
noun
A type of boat used for pulling other boats.
The tug guided the ship into the harbor
Often appears as...
- tug boat
- harbor tug
Usage tips
Technical
verb
To pull hard or struggle to move an object.
He tugged at the heavy box but it wouldn't budge
Often appears as...
- tug at
- tug free
noun
A quick pull or sudden act of pulling.
She gave a little tug on the rope
Often appears as...
- tug of war
- tug at heartstrings
verb
To pull something strongly or suddenly.
She tugged at his sleeve to get his attention
Often appears as...
- tug at
- tug on
noun
A struggle or contest.
The committee's decision was a tug of war between two factions
Often appears as...
- tug of war
- power tug
noun
A type of boat used for pulling other boats.
The tug guided the ship into the harbor
Often appears as...
- tug boat
- harbor tug
Usage tips
Technical
verb
To pull hard or struggle to move an object.
He tugged at the heavy box but it wouldn't budge
Often appears as...
- tug at
- tug free
Definition 1 of 5
Pro Tip 1/2Sudden Motion
Indicates an abrupt action rather than a gentle pull.
The puppy felt a tug on his collar.
Pro Tip 2/2Subtle Persuasion
Often used to describe attempts at gaining someone's attention or persuading them.
Her story tugged at my emotions.
Pro Tip 1/2Sudden Motion
Indicates an abrupt action rather than a gentle pull.
The puppy felt a tug on his collar.
Pro Tip 2/2Subtle Persuasion
Often used to describe attempts at gaining someone's attention or persuading them.
Her story tugged at my emotions.
Pro Tip 1/2Sudden Motion
Indicates an abrupt action rather than a gentle pull.
The puppy felt a tug on his collar.
Pro Tip 2/2Subtle Persuasion
Often used to describe attempts at gaining someone's attention or persuading them.
Her story tugged at my emotions.
Never forget "Tug"
Humans forget easily. That's why you should download WordUp: Smart reminders, word games, AI practice, and much more!
Video examples
How a handful of tech...
And you have a billion people just tugged into all these different directions. Well, imagine an entire design renaissance that tried to orchestrate the exact and most empowering time-well-spent way for those timelines to happen. And that would involve two one would be protecting against the timelines that we don't want to be experiencing,
Video examples
The secret to scientific...
It's blasting out radiation. This is the last place in the universe you would expect to find a planet, but they had very methodically looked at this pulsar, and they detected the gravitational tug of this planet as it orbited the pulsar. It looked really good. The first planet orbiting another star had been found
Video examples
Meet Spot, the robot dog...
Here's another example, where Eric is tugging on the robot as it goes up the stairs. And believe me, getting it to do what it's supposed to do in those circumstances is a real challenge, but the result is something that's going to generalize and make robots much more autonomous than they would be otherwise.
Video examples
This new telescope might...
So the way we infer the presence of dark matter -- we can't see it -- but there's an unmistakable tug, due to gravity. We now can look out, we see this sea of galaxies in a universe that's expanding. What I do myself is to measure the expansion of the universe,
Video examples
The real reason you...
Deciding when to write is sometimes a tug of war. Margaret's dual identity strategy isn't as strange as it sounds. Psychologists have long observed that we have two selves, the want self and the should self. Your want self runs on emotions.
Video examples
What you can do with an...
an even deeper gill arch evolved into a secondary set of jaws. Unlike oral jaws connected by a bone joint, these pharyngeal jaws were suspended in muscle, offering them a wide range of motion to turn, tug, and tear on food.
Video examples
Tagging Blue Sharks PIPE...
fast they grow and we need to know much more about it we're gonna protect them in the long run I'd never seen a blue shot before so I was really looking forward to that tug on the line but the one thing I remember
Video examples
12 truths I learned from...
and you never wrote the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves of your your stories, memories, visions and songs -- your truth, your version of things -- in your own voice. That's really all you have to offer us,
Video examples
Caring for maternal...
massaging my stomach to help the uterus contract gently tugging at my umbilical cord finally the Midwife calls for backup my baby is taken from my arms and I'm lying there feeling vulnerable and
Video examples
Who's Your Daddy? PIPE...
the beetle attacks and grabs the lake the tussle turns into a tug of war neither giving an inch and then the daddy longlegs reveals a nifty life-saving mechanism a quick-release
Video examples
How a handful of tech...
And you have a billion people just tugged into all these different directions. Well, imagine an entire design renaissance that tried to orchestrate the exact and most empowering time-well-spent way for those timelines to happen. And that would involve two one would be protecting against the timelines that we don't want to be experiencing,
Video examples
The secret to scientific...
It's blasting out radiation. This is the last place in the universe you would expect to find a planet, but they had very methodically looked at this pulsar, and they detected the gravitational tug of this planet as it orbited the pulsar. It looked really good. The first planet orbiting another star had been found
Video examples
Meet Spot, the robot dog...
Here's another example, where Eric is tugging on the robot as it goes up the stairs. And believe me, getting it to do what it's supposed to do in those circumstances is a real challenge, but the result is something that's going to generalize and make robots much more autonomous than they would be otherwise.
Video examples
This new telescope might...
So the way we infer the presence of dark matter -- we can't see it -- but there's an unmistakable tug, due to gravity. We now can look out, we see this sea of galaxies in a universe that's expanding. What I do myself is to measure the expansion of the universe,
Video examples
The real reason you...
Deciding when to write is sometimes a tug of war. Margaret's dual identity strategy isn't as strange as it sounds. Psychologists have long observed that we have two selves, the want self and the should self. Your want self runs on emotions.
Video examples
What you can do with an...
an even deeper gill arch evolved into a secondary set of jaws. Unlike oral jaws connected by a bone joint, these pharyngeal jaws were suspended in muscle, offering them a wide range of motion to turn, tug, and tear on food.
Video examples
Tagging Blue Sharks PIPE...
fast they grow and we need to know much more about it we're gonna protect them in the long run I'd never seen a blue shot before so I was really looking forward to that tug on the line but the one thing I remember
Video examples
12 truths I learned from...
and you never wrote the stuff that is tugging on the sleeves of your your stories, memories, visions and songs -- your truth, your version of things -- in your own voice. That's really all you have to offer us,
Video examples
Caring for maternal...
massaging my stomach to help the uterus contract gently tugging at my umbilical cord finally the Midwife calls for backup my baby is taken from my arms and I'm lying there feeling vulnerable and
Video examples
Who's Your Daddy? PIPE...
the beetle attacks and grabs the lake the tussle turns into a tug of war neither giving an inch and then the daddy longlegs reveals a nifty life-saving mechanism a quick-release
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Public Servant
War reporters are often seen as a wild bunch of thrill-seekers who wade into danger zones simply for the sake of the adrenalin high the settings inevitably provide. But this one-dimensional explanation leaves out the core of the story, which is that reporters go to these places because they feel the tug of responsibility.
Quote examples
John Ortberg
American Clergyman
Spiritual formation is for everyone. Just as there is an 'outer you' that is being formed and shaped all the time, like it or not, by accident or on purpose, so there is an 'inner you.' You have a spirit. And it's constantly being shaped and tugged at: by what you hear and watch and say and read and think and experience.
Quote examples
Marilyn Monroe
American Actress
There is a need for aloneness, which I don't think most people realise for an actor. It's almost having certain kinds of secrets for yourself that you'll let the whole world in on only for a moment, when you're acting. But everybody is always tugging at you. They'd all like sort of a chunk of you.
Quote examples
Margo Georgiadis
American Businesswoman
From my experience, the best advisors help in three ways: encourage you to look at the problem or opportunity from multiple angles; help you balance the tug of the short-term with important long-term priorities; and ask the tough questions you need to know to reach the best solution.
Quote examples
Kate Spade
American Designer
I think the details and the quality are so important that it has to have an emotional tug. Even if it's the simplest shoe, it has to have something that says, 'Oh, I have to have you.
Quote examples
Jodie Foster
American Actress
It's an interesting combination: Having a great fear of being alone, and having a desperate need for solitude and the solitary experience. That's always been a tug of war for me.
Quote examples
Nikki Sixx
American Musician
It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round. If everyone was straight-laced and uptight, it would sure be a drag. We need a little tug of war in society.
Quote examples
Justin Bieber
Canadian Sculptor
Now that I'm on top, everyone wants to bring me down. Everyone's trying to tug at me and take my spot.
Quote examples
George S. Patton
American General
You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals.
Quote examples
Charles Henry Parkhurst
American Clergyman
Sympathy is two hearts tugging at one load.
Quote examples
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
Public Servant
War reporters are often seen as a wild bunch of thrill-seekers who wade into danger zones simply for the sake of the adrenalin high the settings inevitably provide. But this one-dimensional explanation leaves out the core of the story, which is that reporters go to these places because they feel the tug of responsibility.
Quote examples
John Ortberg
American Clergyman
Spiritual formation is for everyone. Just as there is an 'outer you' that is being formed and shaped all the time, like it or not, by accident or on purpose, so there is an 'inner you.' You have a spirit. And it's constantly being shaped and tugged at: by what you hear and watch and say and read and think and experience.
Quote examples
Marilyn Monroe
American Actress
There is a need for aloneness, which I don't think most people realise for an actor. It's almost having certain kinds of secrets for yourself that you'll let the whole world in on only for a moment, when you're acting. But everybody is always tugging at you. They'd all like sort of a chunk of you.
Quote examples
Margo Georgiadis
American Businesswoman
From my experience, the best advisors help in three ways: encourage you to look at the problem or opportunity from multiple angles; help you balance the tug of the short-term with important long-term priorities; and ask the tough questions you need to know to reach the best solution.
Quote examples
Kate Spade
American Designer
I think the details and the quality are so important that it has to have an emotional tug. Even if it's the simplest shoe, it has to have something that says, 'Oh, I have to have you.
Quote examples
Jodie Foster
American Actress
It's an interesting combination: Having a great fear of being alone, and having a desperate need for solitude and the solitary experience. That's always been a tug of war for me.
Quote examples
Nikki Sixx
American Musician
It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round. If everyone was straight-laced and uptight, it would sure be a drag. We need a little tug of war in society.
Quote examples
Justin Bieber
Canadian Sculptor
Now that I'm on top, everyone wants to bring me down. Everyone's trying to tug at me and take my spot.
Quote examples
George S. Patton
American General
You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals.
Quote examples
Charles Henry Parkhurst
American Clergyman
Sympathy is two hearts tugging at one load.
Example 1 of 10
WordUp Chrome Extension
As you browse the web instantly look up words you don’t know.
Get Chrome Extension