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
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Recent Examples of tug
Kathryn Hopkins, Footwear News, 23 Jan. 2026
Give it a little tug to fold out the queen-size mattress within, then lay back for a rest.
—Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 22 Jan. 2026
Hazlitt, 4 Feb. 2026
The silicone prosthetics were incredibly thin, which meant that putting a ring through them could rip them if they were accidentally tugged or pulled too hard.
—Sophia Panych, Allure, 3 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tug
Noun
Available in eight shades, the lip liners are formulated with hyaluronic filling spheres for a tug-free glide, coconut and jojoba oil blend for lightweight nourishment, and carnauba and candelilla wax blend to help create precise, seamless lines.
—Kathryn Hopkins, Footwear News, 23 Jan. 2026
Give it a little tug to fold out the queen-size mattress within, then lay back for a rest.
—Audrey Lee, Architectural Digest, 22 Jan. 2026
Verb
After a few demonstrations, Destiny tugged the cord the way Carol showed us, and the bike roared to life.
—Hazlitt, 4 Feb. 2026
The silicone prosthetics were incredibly thin, which meant that putting a ring through them could rip them if they were accidentally tugged or pulled too hard.
—Sophia Panych, Allure, 3 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for tug
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tug
Noun
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That gravitational pull extended through much of Xi Jinping's first five-year term, when China still projected the promise of profits and opportunity more than political constraint and economic contraction.—
Dewardric L. McNeal,
CNBC,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Inside, rather than succumbing to the pull of an open floor plan, Rai leaned into the home’s distinct zones and cozy nooks, which are evocative of another era.—
Linne Halpern,
Architectural Digest,
12 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The Fort Allen Volunteer Fire Company said that crews responding to the crash found a semi-trailer truck that was hauling produce and was fully engulfed in flames.—
Megan Shinn,
CBS News,
10 Feb. 2026
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Enter Tyrannio, a Greek specialist in literature and libraries, owner of some 30,000 scrolls and famed expert on Aristotle — in fact, the same man responsible for restoring the philosopher’s tattered library after it was hauled to Rome.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Engineers have struggled to close the reaction gap between human perception and machine processing without sacrificing accuracy.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
11 Feb. 2026
-
De Meo was recruited from the auto industry, and his experience included turning around the struggling automaker Renault at the start of the decade.—
Elsa Ohlen,
CNBC,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
-
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
-
Demanding papers, dragging away dissenters.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
5 Feb. 2026
-
Slave catchers could capture them, kidnap them and drag them back South.—
Jesse Wright,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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When the novel opens in Florence, in 1557, the body of the painter Jacopo da Pontormo lies in the chapel of San Lorenzo—in front of the frescoes he’d labored over for a decade, with a painter’s chisel stuck in his heart.—
Boris Kachka,
The Atlantic,
13 Feb. 2026
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Aster didn’t micromanage as Tracy labored over the script and suffered a bout of COVID during lockdown.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Tony's Jamaican Food Curry goat, oxtail and jerk chicken are a few of the traditional Jamaican specialties served at this friendly Pflugerville restaurant and East Austin food truck.—
Ana Gutierrez,
Austin American Statesman,
10 Feb. 2026
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Smarmy jerks can get obscenely wealthy in this country just by managing other people’s money.—
Gilad Edelman,
The Atlantic,
7 Feb. 2026
Verb
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This year’s cohort of activists, while quieter than in the past as a result of the ongoing hostilities, is striving to amplify the voices suppressed and introduce emerging artists to a wider audience.—
Tina Ahmadi Krol,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026
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The Bureau strives to complete all 311 requests within five days.—
Tara Molina,
CBS News,
13 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tug.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tug. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
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