slog

verb \ ˈsläg \

|Updated on: 5 Jul 2018

Examples: slog in a Sentence

Definition of slog

slogged; slogging

transitive verb

1 : to hit hard : beat

2 : to plod (one's way) perseveringly especially against difficulty

intransitive verb

1 : to plod heavily : tramp

slogged through the snow

2 : to work hard and steadily : plug

—

slogger

noun

See slog defined for English-language learners

See slog defined for kids

Examples of slog in a Sentence

He slogged away at the paperwork all day.
She slogged through her work.
She slogged her way through her work.
We've been slogging along for hours.
He slogged through the deep snow.
They slogged their way through the snow.

Recent Examples of slog from the Web

Emma Rohrer slogged through the final mud pit before the finish line with a wide grin on her face, racing alongside friends and knowing that there was someone else with her — her dad.

— katie bernard, kansascity, "‘You just can’t see him’: Slain KCK deputy's family, friends run muddy race for him," 30 June 2018
Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, successfully slogged through 36 holes Monday.

— ron kroichick, San Francisco Chronicle, "U.S. Open qualifying: Only the scorecard matters," 6 June 2018
Four Astros coaxed free passes against the mustachioed Houstonian who slogged through 4 ⅔ innings of abysmal baseball.

— chandler rome, Houston Chronicle, "Evan Gattis' strong night leads Astros to victory against Athletics," 13 June 2018
There went the Warriors, slogging to the finish line of a long regular season and springing to life by dispatching San Antonio in their first-round playoff series.

— ron kroichick, SFChronicle.com, "Stephen Curry’s season review: Tested by injuries, Zen-like at the end," 13 June 2018
Justify won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness by slogging through the mud after rain pounded Churchill Downs and Pimlico leading into the races.

— baltimoresun.com, "Nice day, fast track expected for Justify's Triple Crown bid at Belmont," 9 June 2018
Residents have also complained that the proposal does nothing to alleviate congestion from Point Loma residents who slog through Midway traffic to access local freeways.

— david garrick, sandiegouniontribune.com, "New plan aims to revitalize San Diego's sports arena area with housing, parks," 26 Apr. 2018
This was a banner year for overachievers: The 10 tanking teams helped out by inflating win totals and the defending finalists—Golden State and Cleveland—further set the table by slogging through underwhelming campaigns.

— ben golliver, SI.com, "2018 NBA Awards Picks: Has James Harden Finally Earned His MVP Moment?," 11 Apr. 2018
To reach those blissful later years, however, many of us slog through around a decade of grinding dissatisfaction.

— emily bobrow, WSJ, "‘The Happiness Curve’ Review: Midlife Slump and Late-Life Upswing," 31 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'slog.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of slog

origin unknown

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1824

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

slog Synonyms

slog

noun

Definition of slog

1 a : hard persistent work

the endless enervating slog of war
—Michael Gorra

b : a prolonged arduous task or effort

reform will be a hard political slog
—M. S. Forbes

2 : a hard dogged march or journey

See slog defined for English-language learners

Examples of slog in a Sentence

It will be a long, hard slog before everything is back to normal.
It was a long slog up the mountain.

Recent Examples of slog from the Web

And the obstacles to challenging an incumbent shine through in Beth Kowitt’s penetrating story about Amazon’s notably tough slog in establishing itself as a powerhouse in the grocery business.

— aaron pressman, Fortune, "Data Sheet—Whole Foods Gives Amazon a Shot at Grocery Relevancy," 22 May 2018
The long-suffering feminist heroine would make history not in a festooned lovefest but in a dreary, mechanical slog.

— amy chozick, New York Times, "‘They Were Never Going to Let Me Be President’," 20 Apr. 2018
Replacing Obama with another Democrat was always going to be a hard slog, and what is impressive is that Hillary Clinton won a sizable popular vote victory despite losing the electoral college.

— jeet heer, The New Republic, "Maureen Dowd echoes conservatives by blaming Obama for Trump.," 4 June 2018
But the arrows limit one to a channel at a time, making the trip from the Beatles Channel at 018 to the traffic report at 131 a long, deliberate slog.

— scott sturgis, Philly.com, "Chevrolet Traverse remains spacious after redesign," 24 May 2018
The plot is an overly complex slog, to top it off, and the action, while competent—Leitch can be an inventive hand with a combat set piece—is obligingly dull.

— k. austin collins, HWD, "Review: Deadpool 2 Isn’t Nearly as Clever as It Thinks It Is," 15 May 2018
Annihilation This attempt at a thinking person’s action movie devolves into a motiveless slog, in which a group of female soldiers go on a suicide mission, for little or no reason, and end up seeing some very gory, disgusting things.

— chronicle staff report, San Francisco Chronicle, "Capsule movie reviews for week of April 29," 26 Apr. 2018
For all its strengths, though, the series proves a bit of a slog, at times, as the wheels turn along the dusty, blood-specked road to wherever this maze leads.

— brian lowry, CNN, "'Westworld' remains easy to admire, harder to like in new season," 19 Apr. 2018
Both times, the clean up and rebuilding was a long, expensive slog.

— alex harris, miamiherald, "She wants to put her house on stilts. The idea could save Miami’s flood-prone homes | Miami Herald," 18 Apr. 2018

First Known Use of slog

1888

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

SLOG Defined for English Language Learners

slog

verb

Definition of slog for English Language Learners

: to keep doing something even though it is difficult or boring : to work at something in a steady, determined way
: to walk slowly usually with heavy steps