Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
noun
Senses relating to someone or something small.
In full pug dog: a small dog of an ancient breed originating in China, having a snub nose, wrinkled face, squarish body, short smooth hair, and curled tail.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: carlin, Chinese pug, Dutch bulldog, Dutch mastiff, mini mastiff, mops
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to someone or something small.
In full pug moth, often with a descriptive word: any geometrid moth of the tribe Eupitheciini, especially the genus Eupithecia; a geometer moth.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to someone or something small.
In full pug hood: a hood, sometimes with a short cloak attached, worn by women around the middle of the 18th century.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: historical
Topics: business, clothing, fashion, lifestyle, manufacturing, textiles
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to someone or something small.
In full pug engine: a small locomotive chiefly used for shunting (“moving trains from one track to another, or carriages from one train to another”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: rail-transport, railways, transport
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to someone or something small.
Also used as a proper name: any of various animals, such as a ferret, hare, squirrel, or young salmon.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, archaic, regional
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to someone or something small.
Also used as a proper name: any of various animals, such as a ferret, hare, squirrel, or young salmon.
Synonym of teg (“a sheep (originally a ewe) in its second year, or from the time it is weaned until it is first shorn”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, archaic, regional, specifically
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: teg
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to someone or something small.
Also used as a proper name: any of various animals, such as a ferret, hare, squirrel, or young salmon.
An ape, a monkey; also (by extension) a human child.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, archaic, obsolete, regional, specifically
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to someone or something small.
Also used as a proper name: any of various animals, such as a ferret, hare, squirrel, or young salmon.
A fox.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, archaic, obsolete, regional, specifically
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to someone or something small.
A person or thing that is squat (“broad and short”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, rare, regional
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to someone or something small.
A bun or knot of hair; also, a piece of cloth or snood for holding this in place.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, regional
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to someone or something small.
A small demon; an imp, a puck, a sprite.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: goblin, hobgoblin
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to people.
Chiefly used by servants: A senior or upper servant in a household.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, historical
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to people.
A mistress, or a female prostitute; also (generally, derogatory) a woman.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: abandons, alley cat, almah, bangtail, Bankside lady, bargirl, bat, beotch, blouze, blowen, blowsabella, brass nail, brasser, brass, broad, business girl, calico queen, callet, cat, chippy, chromo, coaster, cockatrice, cocotte, comfort girl, comfort woman, commoner, Covent Garden nun, creature of the night, croshabell, daughter of joy, dollymop, doxy, drab, Dutch widow, escort, fille de joie, flap, floozie, fornicatrix, frail sister, Fulham virgin, gamester, gay lady, geebag, gillian, gill, girl of the game, girl rented overnight, good-time girl, GRO, hackney, harlot, Haymarket ware, hireling, 'ho, hoer, hoe, hook, hooker, hustler, Japayuki-san, jay, karayuki-san, laced mutton, lady of leisure, lady of light virtue, lady of pleasure, lady of the evening, lady of the game, lady of the night, lightskirt, loose woman, meat puppet, mermaid, minx, mob, moll, mort wap-apace, mot, mud kicker, mud-kicker, mudkicker, musk cat, mutton, nun, nymph of darkness, nymph of the pavé, nymph of the pavement, painted lady, Paphian, party girl, pavement princess, perdita, pimpette, pretty horsebreaker, priestess of Venus, pro skirt, prossie, prossy, pross, prostie, prostitute, prostitutor, prosty, prozzie, prozzy, pro, public woman, pucelle, puella publica, pug, punk, pussygirl, puta, put, quail, quean, quene, quiff, ribibe, scrubber, sex labourer, sex worker, skainsmate, skivvy, slag, slapper, slit, slut, sodomitess, soiled dove, stem siren, stew, street taco, strumpet, succubus, tart, tawaif, thotty, thot, tib, tom, treddle, trick turner, trollop, trug, trull, tweak, vice girl, wanton, wapping dell, wapping moll, wapping mort, wench, whore, woman of easy virtue, woman of ill fame, woman of ill repute, woman of the night, woman of the street, woman of the town, working girl, babe, baggage, bim, bint, bird, bitch, blone, chick, covess, dame, donna, feme, femme, femoid, frau, frow, gal, gash, gentlelady, ginch, hen, ho, huwoman, lady, maness, mort, mulier, placket, pussy, queen, she, sheila, skirt, squaw, tía, twist, vaginoid, wan, wife, woman, wommon, womon, womxn, womyn, wimmin
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to people.
A term of endearment for a person, or sometimes an animal or a toy such as a doll.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: endearing, obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to people.
A bargeman.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
Topics: nautical, transport
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: bargee
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Senses relating to people.
A cabin boy, a shipboy or ship's boy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
Topics: nautical, transport
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Alternative letter-case form of PuG (“a group of players who are unknown to each other, grouped together to work toward a short-term goal such as completing a dungeon or a raid”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Internet, alt-of
Topics: games, gaming
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
The footprint or pawprint of an animal; a pugmark.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Clipping of pugilist (“one who fights with their fists, especially a professional prize fighter; a boxer”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Clay, soil, or other material which has been mixed and worked until flexible, soft, and free from air pockets and thus suitable for making bricks, pottery, etc.; also, any other material with a similar consistency or function, especially (Australia) auriferous (“gold-bearing”) clay.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: business, construction, manufacturing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Ellipsis of pug mill (“kind of mill for grinding, mixing, and working clay”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
Topics: business, construction, manufacturing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
The residue left after pressing apples for cider; pomace.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: England, Scotland, UK, Wales, Western, archaic, countable, regional, uncountable
Qualifier: Southwest England
Topics: agriculture, business, construction, lifestyle, manufacturing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Often in the plural: the husks and other refuse removed from grain by winnowing; chaff.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: England, Scotland, UK, Wales, Western, countable, obsolete, regional, uncountable
Topics: agriculture, business, construction, lifestyle, manufacturing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Acronym of pickup group (“group of players who are unknown to each other, grouped together to work toward a short-term goal, such as completing a dungeon or a raid”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Internet, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of
Topics: games, gaming
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To track (an animal) by following pawprints; also (by extension) to track (a person) by following footprints.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: British, India, obsolete, rare, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To hit or punch (someone or something); also, to poke (someone or something).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: rare, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To fill or stop up (a space) with pug (noun etymology 5, noun sense 1), clay, sawdust, or other material by tamping; (specifically) to fill in (the space between joists of a floor, a partition, etc.) with some material to deaden sound, make fireproof, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Topics: business, construction, manufacturing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To mix and work (wet clay) until flexible, soft, and free from air pockets and suitable for making bricks, pottery, etc.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Qualifier: pottery
Topics: business, construction, manufacturing
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Of cattle, etc.: to trample (the ground, a place, etc.) until it becomes muddy and soft; to poach.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, New-Zealand, archaic, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To pack or tamp (something) into a small space.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: England, also, archaic, figuratively, regional, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To pack or tamp into a small space.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: England, also, archaic, figuratively, intransitive, regional
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To pull or tug (something).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: England, Scotland, Wales, Western, transitive
Topics: business, construction, manufacturing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To spoil (something) by touching too much.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: England, Scotland, Wales, Western, obsolete, transitive
Topics: business, construction, manufacturing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Followed by at: to pull or tug.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: England, Scotland, Wales, Western, intransitive
Topics: business, construction, manufacturing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
To participate in structured content of an online game as part of a pickup group.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Internet, transitive
Topics: games, gaming
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
small compact smooth-coated breed of Asiatic origin having a tightly curled tail and broad flat wrinkled muzzle
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: pug-dog
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: dog, domestic dog, Canis familiaris
History
Origin unknown, possibly related to West Flemish pugge (“(adjective) small; (noun) short person; pet name derived from the first name Pugge”); though it is uncertain whether sense 1 (“senses relating to someone or something small”) and sense 2 (“senses relating to people”) are derived from the same source. Etymology 1 sense 1.8 (“small demon”) was probably influenced by, though not a variant of, puck.
Acronym of pickup group.
The noun is borrowed from Hindi पग (pag, “step; (less common) foot; leg”), from Old Hindi पगु (pagu), from Sanskrit पद्ग (padga), from पद् (pad, “step; foot”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step; to walk; to fall; to stumble”)) + ग (ga, stem at the ends of compounds denoting going or moving) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gwem- (“to step”)). The verb is derived from the noun.
Clipping of pugilist.
The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly: * related to southern Dutch puggen (“to hit hard”), German pucken (“to beat, thump”), possibly ultimately imitative; or * related to poke (verb). It is also uncertain whether the various senses are derived from the same source. The origin of the noun is also uncertain; it is probably related to the verb.
From Late Middle English pugge (“husk of grain”); further etymology unknown, possibly related to pug (verb) (see etymology 5). However, the latter is only attested much later.
Origin unknown; etymology 6 sense 1.2 (“to spoil (something) by touching too much”) is possibly influenced by pug (verb, noun) (see etymology 5) or puggy.
Across languages
45 source translations are retained for this English entry.
