mug
part of speech
noun (a mug, mugs); verb (mug, mugs, mugged, mugging)
meaning for a pupil
1) A big cup with straight sides and a handle, for hot drinks. tree →
2) The drink in it: «a mug of cocoa». tree →
3) (verb) To attack and rob someone in the street. tree →
4) (informal) A face; or (British) a silly person who is easily tricked. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life, mugs hold tea, coffee and hot chocolate; safety: hot drinks can scald, so carry carefully and keep them away from small children and the edge of tables. In maths, a mug is a measuring idea: «How many millilitres does the mug hold?» In safety lessons, being mugged is a crime — let things go, get away and tell an adult or the police. Phrases: «a mug of tea», «mug shot» (police photo).
examples
- I had a mug of hot chocolate before bed. tree →
- Be careful — that mug is hot. tree →
- The mug holds about 300 millilitres. tree →
- Grandpa's mug says «World's Best Grandad». tree →
- A man was mugged on the way home and lost his wallet. tree →
- If someone tries to steal your bag, let it go and get to safety. tree →
- Don't be a mug — that's a trick! tree →
- We painted our own mugs in art. tree →
- She soon understood, however, that he did not find himself quite well, and therefore brought him a mug of water. tree →
note
Countable. Verb: mug, mugged, mugging (double g); a person who mugs is a «mugger». A mug is bigger than a teacup and usually has no saucer.
In the corpora
- A shiny glaze, which is a thin coat of glass, makes a mug waterproof.
- Jamie in Glasgow broke Mum's favourite mug and hid the pieces in the bin.
- She found them when she emptied it, and she was sad about the mug but sadder that he hid it.
- In Llandudno, Rhiannon breaks Mam's favourite mug.
- Small cups for juice hold 200 or 250 ml, a mug about 300 ml.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «mug» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.