as in pull
the act or an instance of applying force on something so that it moves in the direction of the force
gave the man in front a tug on his shirtsleeve as a sign that he was supposed to step aside
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
2
as in to struggle
to devote serious and sustained effort
she's tugged all her life to get to where she is now in the business world
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of tug
Katie Rosenhouse,
Southern Living,
15 June 2026
In the last two months, alligators have been spotted sitting on a front porch, playing tug of war with police officers, walking from house to house, and on Tuesday, June 9, one was found shot to death.
—
Eva Flowe
june 12,
Charlotte Observer,
12 June 2026
Christine Ro,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
When all of the useful parts have been claimed from a corpse, industrial scavengers tug the remains to a cement pad, where excavators tear the vessel into bits of metal, Petty explained.
—
Ian Bogost,
The Atlantic,
12 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for tug
Noun
Give one of the center leaves of the pineapple a firm but gentle tug.
—
Katie Rosenhouse,
Southern Living,
15 June 2026
In the last two months, alligators have been spotted sitting on a front porch, playing tug of war with police officers, walking from house to house, and on Tuesday, June 9, one was found shot to death.
—
Eva Flowe
june 12,
Charlotte Observer,
12 June 2026
Verb
His young daughter tugged at him.
—
Christine Ro,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2026
When all of the useful parts have been claimed from a corpse, industrial scavengers tug the remains to a cement pad, where excavators tear the vessel into bits of metal, Petty explained.
—
Ian Bogost,
The Atlantic,
12 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for tug
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tug
Noun
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That sense of modernity has sometimes felt absent from the movies’ sweetly old-fashioned world, which features pull-string cowboy dolls and a shiny spaceman action figure.
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The wind projects to blow out to right field tonight, enhancing Muncy’s pull-side power potential.
Verb
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Elsewhere, drivers encountered a very different kind of mess when a tractor-trailer hauling 40,000 pounds of extra-firm tofu crashed off a highway into a ravine in Missouri in March, The New York Times reported.
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Down Pennsylvania Avenue, a man in a karate gi, disposable gloves, and dirty white sneakers was hauling a cart by means of a homemade yoke strapped across his shoulders.
Verb
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In addition, composters are struggling with the amount of plastic and other debris that people and businesses put in the food waste bins.
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Cristiano Ronaldo looks to be in top form after struggling in his World Cup opener, scoring two goals already today.
Noun
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The yanks are coming, the yanks are coming!
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Connie Lansdown, the hysterectomy patient, watches the storm yank a man from a reclining chair and drag him down the hall.
Verb
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As the conflict in the Middle East has dragged on, pressure has been building on Capitol Hill to intervene.
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In an unprecedented moved in May, Lebanon filed a formal complaint against Iran at the United Nations Security Council, directly accusing Tehran of violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations for interfering in its sovereign decisions and dragging the country into war.
Verb
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Mercurius began laboring in the third and left after Hull's second homer of the CWS and ninth of the season leading off the fifth.
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The British Parliament had built restrictions into the freedom edict to guarantee the enslaved and newly free would continue laboring, either for poverty wages or to repay bottomless debt.
Noun
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This Jamaican restaurant, located just off Main Street, brings Caribbean flavors to Mackinac Island’s solid rotation of restaurants, with planked whitefish and jerk chicken sandwiches.
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After Game 4, jerks were throwing things at Victor Wembanyama.
Verb
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Born in Brooklyn, NY, on April 4, 1932, Davis was a striving student who attended New York University on a full scholarship, and graduated magna cum laude.
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Nolan seems to be striving for geographic realism interspersed with violent and fantastic episodes.
Cite this Entry
“Tug.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tug. Accessed 25 Jun. 2026.
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