tug
part of speech
verb (tug, tugs, tugged, tugging); noun (a tug, tugs)
meaning for a pupil
1) To tug is to pull something suddenly and firmly. tree →
2) A tug is a quick, strong pull. tree →
3) A tug (or tugboat) is a small, strong boat that pushes and pulls big ships in a harbour. tree →
4) «A tug at your heart» is a sudden sad or loving feeling. tree →
sense in the lessons
In PE and play, «tug of war» is a game where two teams pull a rope in opposite directions. In science, a tug is a pulling force; the stronger force wins. In stories, a child tugs at a parent's sleeve to get attention. Phrases: «tug of war», «tug at», «give it a tug», «tug at your heartstrings».
examples
- She tugged my sleeve to show me the rainbow. tree →
- Our class won the tug of war. tree →
- Give the rope a good tug. tree →
- A tug pushed the big ship into the dock. tree →
- The dog tugged on its lead. tree →
- The sad film gave my heart a tug. tree →
- Pulling with more force helps your team in a tug of war. tree →
- At last young Lambton felt a mighty tug at his line. tree →
note
Regular verb but double the g: tugged, tugging. A tug is short and firm; a «pull» can be long and steady. «Tug of war» has no hyphens in most British use.
In the corpora
- On a walk your dog stops at a lamp post and sniffs for ages while you tug the lead.
- Lily tells her friends she does not find the ponytail tugging cute — she finds it annoying.
- Every morning in the line for assembly, Tom tugged Lily's ponytail.
- Some children who like someone show it clumsily, by teasing, tugging or hiding their things.
- Kind words, like a compliment or a hello, work far better than tugs and tricks.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «tug» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.