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
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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
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Recent Examples of tug
Marisa McMillan, Outside, 27 Feb. 2026
Erikson, who was influenced by Freud, conceptualized eight life stages as tugs of war between opposing forces.
—Shayla Love, New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2026
Clare Watson, Quanta Magazine, 27 Feb. 2026
In Barcelona, Cindy was alert enough to ward off a would-be thief tugging on her tote bag.
—Kansas City Star, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tug
Noun
And gear that hugs and tugs in all the wrong places doesn’t whisper.
—Marisa McMillan, Outside, 27 Feb. 2026
Erikson, who was influenced by Freud, conceptualized eight life stages as tugs of war between opposing forces.
—Shayla Love, New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2026
Verb
From life’s first moments, multiplying cells are squished, stretched, and tugged to form tissues that bend and twist into organs that expand and contract.
—Clare Watson, Quanta Magazine, 27 Feb. 2026
In Barcelona, Cindy was alert enough to ward off a would-be thief tugging on her tote bag.
—Kansas City Star, 25 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tug
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tug
Noun
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Love Story also does a great job of conveying the gravitational pull of the Kennedy family and the media circus that surrounded them.—
Claudia Williams,
Architectural Digest,
5 Mar. 2026
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This pull-apart treat will add a pop of bright citrus flavor to your brunch spread.—
Mary Shannon Wells,
Southern Living,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Investigators hauled boxes of items from the home and examined a car in the driveway, CNN affiliate KEYE reported.—
Elizabeth Wolfe,
CNN Money,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Trucks hauled away approximately 200 loads of asbestos and mold-covered debris.—
Eleanor Nash,
Kansas City Star,
3 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Deeper challenges China's policy announcements will be scrutinized for details on consumer stimulus, such as expanding trade-in subsidies, and any incremental support for the struggling property market.—
Evelyn Cheng,Anniek Bao,
CNBC,
4 Mar. 2026
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With human civilization still struggling to find our way through our technological infancy, does this new study actually predict humanity’s demise?—
Big Think,
Big Think,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Effectively, this turned the workspace into a yank buffer along with all your documents, and undoing any destructive editing operation thus became merely another cut and paste.—
Cameron Kaiser,
ArsTechnica,
12 Sep. 2025
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Visitors to China will want to lighten their grip, while folks introducing themselves to Germans should know to stop after one firm downward yank.—
Chris Ciolli,
AFAR Media,
15 July 2025
Verb
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Miller made efforts to clean up the scene before dragging the 86-year-old’s body to a cellar under the shed, where she was later found, the indictment read.—
Karina Tsui,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
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Each team has to drag three giant snakes through a bunch of obstacles and then get a ball through a snake maze to win immunity.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Imagine living in the dictatorship of North Korea, hungry all the time, laboring for no pay.—
Matthew Carey,
Deadline,
8 Mar. 2026
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Every man and woman who labors in the construction industry deserves that.—
Tim Dunn,
Boston Herald,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Without comment, the president shared multiple news articles covering his previous remarks slamming Maher as a jerk.—
Brendan Morrow,
USA Today,
8 Mar. 2026
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The Lion’s Tail that tastes like if a Jamaican jerk chicken and a Whiskey Sour couldn’t keep their hands off each other.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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In a world of jaded billionaires, psychiatrist-gurus, bio-hacked tech bros, AI labs and disillusioned teens being optimized in elite private schools, an audacious data-mining CEO (Magnussen) strives to turn insight and influence into profit and power.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
9 Mar. 2026
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And while striving for excellence is admirable, ballet’s obsession with excellence can make for a less-than-welcoming environment for those who just want to do it for fun.—
Chloe Angyal,
Time,
9 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tug.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tug. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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