lug

See also: Appendix:Variations of "lug"

Translingual

Symbol

lug

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Luganda.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Luganda terms

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) enPR: lŭg, IPA^(key): /lʌɡ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌɡ

Etymology 1

From Middle English luggen, possibly from Scandinavian source, (compare Swedish lugga, Norwegian lugge); also in English dialectal as lig (“to lug”). Noun is via Scots lugge, probably from Old Norse (compare Norwegian and Swedish lugg). Probably related to slug (“lazy, slow-moving”), which may be from similar source(s). See slow.

Noun

lug (plural lugs)

1. The act of hauling or dragging.

   a hard lug

2. That which is hauled or dragged.

   The pack is a heavy lug.

3. Anything that moves slowly.
   • 1544 (date written; published 1571), Roger Ascham, Toxophilus, the Schole, or Partitions, of Shooting. […], London: […] Thomas Marshe, →OCLC; republished in The English Works of Roger Ascham, […], London: […] R[obert] and J[ames] Dodsley, […], and J[ohn] Newbery, […], 1761, →OCLC:

     whereof the one is quick of cast, trick, and trim both for pleasure and profit: the other is a lug

4. A lug nut.
5. (electricity) A device for terminating an electrical conductor to facilitate the mechanical connection; to the conductor it may be crimped to form a cold weld, soldered or have pressure from a screw.
6. A part of something which sticks out, used as a handle or support.
7. A large, clumsy, awkward man; a fool.

   Synonym: big lug

8. (UK) An ear or ear lobe.

   While shaving, the poor sod had a fit and cut part of a lug off.

9. A wood box used for transporting fruit or vegetables.
10. (slang) A request for money, as for political purposes.

    They put the lug on him at the courthouse.

11. A lugworm.
12. (informal) A pull or drag on a cigarette.
    • 2013, Paul Burke, The Man Who Fell In Love With His Wife:

      He took another long lug on his cigarette before continuing quietly, 'I've seen too much and it was seriously screwing me up. […]

Derived terms

• (protruding support): launch lug
• lug bolt

Translations

lug nut

• Bulgarian: карабина на теглич f (karabina na teglič)
• Galician: trela (gl) f, braga (gl) f, targa (gl) f
• Swedish: hjulskruv c, hjulmutter c

device for terminating an electrical conductor

• Bulgarian: кабелна обувка (bg) f (kabelna obuvka)
• French: cosse (fr) f

protrusion used as a handle or point of attachment

• French: oreille (fr) f, tenon (fr) m
• Maori: taupopoia

Verb

lug (third-person singular simple present lugs, present participle lugging, simple past and past participle lugged)

1. (transitive, sometimes figurative) To haul or drag along (especially something heavy); to carry; to pull.

   Why do you always lug around so many books?

   • c. 1700, Jeremy Collier, A Thought:

     They must divide the image among them, and so lug off every one his share.

   • 1923, P. G. Wodehouse, The Inimitable Jeeves:

     As a rule, you see, I'm not lugged into Family Rows. On the occasions when Aunt is calling to Aunt like mastodons bellowing across primeval swamps and Uncle James's letter about Cousin Mabel's peculiar behaviour is being shot round the family circle... the clan has a tendency to ignore me.

   • 2021 July 14, Anthony Lambert, “Grand designs on superior interiors”, in RAIL, number 935, page 48:

     Luggage areas need to be within sight, rather than at the end of carriages, despite the inconvenience of lugging cases further into a carriage.

2. (transitive) To run at too slow a speed.

   When driving up a hill, choose a lower gear so you don't lug the engine.

3. (transitive, nautical) To carry an excessive amount of sail for the conditions prevailing.
4. (intransitive, horse-racing) To pull toward the inside rail ("lugging in") or the outside rail ("lugging out") during a race.

Derived terms

• luggage
• lug in
• lug out

Translations

to haul something heavy

• Bulgarian: дърпам (bg) (dǎrpam), влача (bg) (vlača)
• Cebuano: baguod
• Finnish: kiskoa (fi)
• French: trimbaler (fr), traîner (fr)
• Galician: ransir, restexar, acorzoar, arrousar
• Navajo: yiłjiid
• Occitan: tirassar
• Polish: zataskać impf, zataszczyć pf
• Spanish: cargar con, arrastrar (es), jalar (es), acarrear (es), carrear (es) (disused)
• Swedish: kånka (sv)

Etymology 2

From Middle English lugge (“pole, stick, staff”).

Noun

lug (plural lugs)

1. (UK, dialect) A rod or pole.
   • 1567, George Turberville, Epitome:

     And from the bodies [of pines and oaks] the boughes and loftie lugges they beare.

2. (UK, archaic, dialect) A measure of length equal to 16+¹⁄₂ feet.

   Synonym: rod

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 11:

     eight lugs of grownd; / Into the which returning backe, he fell

3. (nautical) A lugsail.
4. (harness) The leather loop or ear by which a shaft is held up.

   

   Harness pendant suspension mount featuring two lugs (at the bottom). The pendant has one lug (also named loop), placed in the gap between the two lugs of the hanger.

5. A loop (or protuberance) found on both arms of a hinge, featuring a hole for the axis of the hinge.
6. A ridge or other protuberance on the surface of a body to increase traction or provide a hold for holding and moving it.

References

• Frank Graham, editor (1987), “LUG”, in The New Geordie Dictionary, Rothbury, Northumberland: Butler Publishing, →ISBN.
• Bill Griffiths, editor (2004), “lug”, in A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear: Northumbria University Press, →ISBN.
• Scott Dobson, Dick Irwin “lug”, in Newcastle 1970s: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎^[2], archived from the original on 2024-09-05.
• “Lug”, in Palgrave’s Word List: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎^[3], archived from the original on 2024-09-05, from F[rancis] M[ilnes] T[emple] Palgrave, A List of Words and Phrases in Everyday Use by the Natives of Hetton-le-Hole in the County of Durham […] (Publications of the English Dialect Society; 74), London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1896, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Gul, gul, gül

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch lucht.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lœχ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

lug (uncountable, diminutive luggie)

1. air

Usage notes

The plural form of lug is lugte, but it exists only in literary texts and is otherwise never used.

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *lug(ā), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leuK- (“to gulp/drink (down), swallow”). Cognate to Lithuanian liũgas (“morass”), Old Norse slok (“trough, spillway”), Middle High German slūch (“gulf, abyss”).

Noun

lug m (plural lugje, definite lugu, definite plural lugjet)

1. trough, (water) channel, spillway
2. groove (especially in trees)
3. valley (between mountains or hills through which a river or creek flows)

Declension

Declension of lug

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	lug	lugu	lugje	lugjet
accusative		lugun
dative	lugu	lugut	lugjeve	lugjeve
ablative			lugjesh

Derived terms

• lugaç
• lugajë
• lugare
• lugat
• lugë
• lugëlëngës
• luginë
• lukth

Further reading

• “lug”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
• FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎^[4], 1980

Irish

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l̪ˠʌɡ/
• Homophones: lag, log (Ulster)

Noun

lug m (genitive singular luga, nominative plural luganna)

1. (mechanics) lug

Declension

Declension of lug (third declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative lug luganna vocative a lug a luganna genitive luga luganna dative lug luganna forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an lug na luganna genitive an luga na luganna dative leis an lug don lug leis na luganna

Derived terms

• lug seoil (“lugsail”)

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “lug”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• “lug”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2025

Livonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *luku. Cognates include Finnish luku.

Noun

lug

1. number

Primitive Irish

Romanization

lug

1. Romanization of ᚂᚒᚌ

Scanian

Etymology

From Old Norse lok.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlǿʉːɣ]

Noun

lug n

1. weed, unwanted plant

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lǫgъ.

Noun

lȗg m (Cyrillic spelling лу̑г)

1. small forest, grove

   Synonyms: šumica, gaj

2. swamp forest

Declension

Declension of lug

	singular	plural
nominative	lȗg	lȕgovi/ lȗzi
genitive	luga	lȕgōvā
dative	lugu	lugovima / luzima
accusative	lug	lugove
vocative	luže	lugovi / luzi
locative	lugu	lugovima / luzima
instrumental	lugom	lugovima / luzima

Further reading

• “lug”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Etymology 2

From Middle High German louge, from Proto-Germanic *laugō ("soap, lye").

Noun

lȗg m (Cyrillic spelling лу̑г)

1. ash (fire residue)
2. lye

Declension

Declension of lug

	singular	plural
nominative	lȗg	lȕgovi
genitive	luga	lȕgōvā
dative	lugu	lugovima
accusative	lug	lugove
vocative	lugu / luže	lugovi
locative	lugu	lugovima
instrumental	lugom	lugovima

Further reading

• “lug”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Slovene

Etymology

From Middle High German louge, from Proto-Germanic *laugō ("soap, lye").

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lùːk/, /lúːk/

Noun

lūg m inan

1. lye

Inflection

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Masculine inan., hard o-stem
nominative	lúg
genitive	lúga
	singular
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	lúg
genitive (rodȋlnik)	lúga
dative (dajȃlnik)	lúgu
accusative (tožȋlnik)	lúg
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	lúgu
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	lúgom

Further reading

• “lug”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “lug”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Somali

Etymology

From Proto-Cushitic. Cognates include Maay luk, Rendille luħ, Baiso lukka, Jiiddu loho, Arbore lukk.

Noun

lug f (plural lugo m)

1. leg

Sumerian

Romanization

lug

1. Romanization of 𒇻 (lug)

Yola

Noun

lug

1. Alternative form of lhug
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 7, page 86:

     Th' heiftem o' pley vell all ing to lug;

     The weight of the play fell into the hollow;

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 54