Definition and meaning of tug

TugTug (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tugged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Tugging.] [OE. toggen; akin to OD. tocken to entice, G. zucken to jerk, draw, Icel. toga to draw, AS. téon, p. p. togen, to draw, G. ziehen, OHG. ziohan, Goth. tiuhan, L. ducere to lead, draw. Cf. Duke, Team, Tie, v. t., Touch, Tow, v. t., Tuck to press in, Toy a plaything.]
1. To pull or draw with great effort; to draw along with continued exertion; to haul along; to tow; as, to tug a loaded cart; to tug a ship into port.

There sweat, there strain, tug the laborious oar. Roscommon.

2. To pull; to pluck. [Obs.]

To ease the pain,
His tugged cars suffered with a strain. Hudibras.

TugTug, v. i.
1. To pull with great effort; to strain in labor; as, to tug at the oar; to tug against the stream.

He tugged, he shook, till down they came. Milton.

2. To labor; to strive; to struggle.

England now is left
To tug and scamble and to part by the teeth
The unowed interest of proud-swelling state. Shak.

TugTug, n.
1. A pull with the utmost effort, as in the athletic contest called tug of war; a supreme effort.

At the tug he falls,
Vast ruins come along, rent from the smoking walls. Dryden.

2. A sort of vehicle, used for conveying timber and heavy articles. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.

3. (Naut.) A small, powerful steamboat used to tow vessels; -- called also steam tug, tugboat, and towboat.

4. A trace, or drawing strap, of a harness.

5. (Mining.) An iron hook of a hoisting tub, to which a tackle is affixed.

Tug iron, an iron hook or button to which a tug or trace may be attached, as on the shaft of a wagon.