Illustration of slug
- slug 3
1
: sluggard
2
: a lump, disk, or cylinder of material (such as plastic or metal): such as
a(1)
: a musket ball
(2)
: bullet
b
: a piece of metal roughly shaped for subsequent processing
c
: a $50 gold piece
d
: a disk for insertion in a slot machine
especially
: one used illegally instead of a coin
3
: any of numerous chiefly terrestrial pulmonate gastropods (order Stylommatophora) that are found in most parts of the world where there is a reasonable supply of moisture and are closely related to the land snails but are long and wormlike and have only a rudimentary shell often buried in the mantle or entirely absent
4
: a smooth soft larva of a sawfly or moth that creeps like a mollusk
5
a
: a quantity of liquor drunk in one swallow
b
: a detached mass of fluid (such as water vapor or oil) that causes impact (as in a circulating system)
6
a
: a strip of metal thicker than a printer's lead
b
: a line of type cast as one piece
c
: a usually temporary type line serving to instruct or identify
7
: the gravitational unit of mass in the foot-pound-second system to which a pound force can impart an acceleration of one foot per second per second and which is equal to the mass of an object weighing 32 pounds
slugged; slugging
: a heavy blow especially with the fist
slugged; slugging
1
: to strike heavily with or as if with the fist or a bat
2
: fight sense 4b
—usually used in the phrase slug it out
Examples of slug in a Sentence
Noun (1)
he's always a slug in the morning, which is why he prefers to sleep late
knocked back another slug of whiskey
Noun (2)
one well aimed slug on the head knocked him out
Verb (2)
she got so angry that she slugged the back of the chair and knocked it over
Recent Examples on the Web
Madeline Bodin, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 June 2025
Unlike most pests, slugs and snails are most active at night or in cool, wet weather.
—Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 June 2025
Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 14 June 2025
In 147 plate appearances as the cleanup hitter, Walker slugged .296.
—Chandler Rome, New York Times, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for slug
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Noun
Pickett said the multiple layers of packaging are vital, since slugs (mollusks, not insects) end up falling into the liquid, and their smell is uniquely bad.
—Madeline Bodin, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 June 2025
Unlike most pests, slugs and snails are most active at night or in cool, wet weather.
—Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 June 2025
Verb
Her Uncle Bill slugged through European trenches, while her grandfather served as military police during the China-Burma-India campaign during World War II.
—Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 14 June 2025
In 147 plate appearances as the cleanup hitter, Walker slugged .296.
—Chandler Rome, New York Times, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for slug
Cite this Entry
“Slug.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slug. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
slug
1 of 3 nounslug
2 of 3 noun
: a heavy blow especially with the fist
slug
3 of 3 verb
slugged; slugging
: to strike heavily with or as if with the fist or a bat
Etymology
Noun
Middle English slugge "a lazy person"; of Scandinavian origin
Noun
perhaps from earlier slug (verb) "to load (a weapon) with slugs"
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