1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

plug (up)

verb

Definition of plug (up)next
as in to stop (up)
to prevent passage through by filling with something hair plugged up the drain

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for plug (up)
  1. block
  2. obstruct
Verb
  • Opponents of the map late Tuesday filed an emergency application asking the nation’s highest court to block a ruling in favor of the map, which lawmakers passed last year.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 23 Sep. 2026
  • What’s unclear is the Writers Guild of America’s willingness to file a lawsuit to block the merger means a more aggressive approach by labor to future mergers.
    — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of block
Verb
  • After his release, he was arrested last October in the Bronx for obstructing governmental administration and resisting arrest, and was released without bail.
    — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Government attorneys wrote that Puig had knowledge of a grand jury proceeding and attempted to obstruct it, satisfying the burden on the first count.
    — Sam Blum, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of obstruct
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

plug-ugly
plug (up)
plum
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Plug (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plug%20%28up%29. Accessed 25 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tactile

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 25
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All