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.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tug
Armin Rosen, The Washington Examiner, 25 July 2025
That tiny gap softens the grip of urgency and gives your attention room to breathe, away from the constant tug of impatience.
—Wilson Luna, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
The Glamour Editors, Glamour, 21 July 2025
This is something that would usually be the effect of a planet in orbit gravitationally tugging on a star, but Vioque was aware that MP Mus' protoplanetary disk had, until that point, come up empty in terms of planets.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for tug
Noun
The first Wet Leg album showcased a deliciously English clash of bawdiness and ambivalence, the same tug of lust and shame that gave the best work of the ’90s Britpop rebels Pulp, the most obvious of Wet Leg’s influences, an element of real, human complexity.
—Armin Rosen, The Washington Examiner, 25 July 2025
That tiny gap softens the grip of urgency and gives your attention room to breathe, away from the constant tug of impatience.
—Wilson Luna, Forbes.com, 22 July 2025
Verb
The texture felt a bit dry and tugged during application—not the smoothest glide.
—The Glamour Editors, Glamour, 21 July 2025
This is something that would usually be the effect of a planet in orbit gravitationally tugging on a star, but Vioque was aware that MP Mus' protoplanetary disk had, until that point, come up empty in terms of planets.
—Robert Lea, Space.com, 14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for tug
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tug
Noun
-
The negative pull by Air India’s financials isn’t surprising, said Brendan Sobie, an independent analyst at Sobie Aviation.—
Lee Ying Shan,Monica Pitrelli,
CNBC,
29 July 2025
-
Our preoccupation with food is much more primal than the pull of a Sephora sale.—
Maggie Anders,
Oc Register,
29 July 2025
Verb
-
Thousands of pounds of marijuana After returning with a search warrant, authorities found and began hauling away thousands of pounds of marijuana in different forms, beginning late last week and lasting through the weekend.—
Jake Goodrick,
Sacbee.com,
5 Aug. 2025
-
The Falcon 9's upper stage, meanwhile, continued hauling the 28 Starlink satellites toward low Earth orbit, where they're scheduled to be deployed 64 minutes after launch.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
4 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Yet this new Klan version struggled to get started, and in spite of the less-than-liberal social leanings of America in the late 1910s, membership lagged.—
Jody Mamone,
Hartford Courant,
15 Aug. 2025
-
Serafin pitches Qualtrics as using technology to solve a problem technology created, saying companies now struggle to piece together a coherent picture of their customers across their call centers, apps, websites, text messages, and social media accounts.—
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson,
semafor.com,
15 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Running on a level surface (in supportive shoes—see above!) can serve as plenty a cardio workout without the extra yank on your plantar fascia.—
Erica Sloan,
SELF,
20 June 2025
-
Four yanks later, voila: Clayton had pulled free his prize, leaving just a single strand of nylon stuck in the Alamodome rim.—
Brendan Marks,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
One person would hold the rod and drag ashore a thrashing, 200-pound sawfish.—
Jack Prator,
The Orlando Sentinel,
16 Aug. 2025
-
In doing so, the currents drag swimmers out into open waters.—
Jeanine Santucci,
USA Today,
16 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
In this way, AI allows PR folks to compare and contrast strategies quickly rather than laboring over a single version.—
Daniel Lotzof,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 2025
-
In the years since Trump pulled off his shocking upset victory over Hillary Clinton, the Democrats have been laboring under a series of myths about themselves and Trump that have compelled them to continue digging their own graves.—
Isaac Schorr,
The Washington Examiner,
8 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Kaitlyn Santa Juana plays a college student who learns that her grandmother cheated Death decades ago, and now that jerk is coming to take out her whole family via various creatively gnarly, Rube Goldberg-esque kills.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
1 Aug. 2025
-
Mid-performance, the prop jerks downward after slipping from its wire, causing a drop that nearly unseats her.—
Mitchell Peters,
Billboard,
19 July 2025
Verb
-
At the same time, the agency strives to keep goods flowing smoothly at the points of entry.—
Adam Stone,
USA Today,
15 Aug. 2025
-
The series has never strived to be anything more than opulent fluff, but it still gets consistently pilloried for its lack of realism.—
Inkoo Kang,
New Yorker,
15 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tug.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tug. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share