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# tug

«tug» in Mova's school dictionary: **to pull something suddenly and firmly** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (tug, tugs, tugged, tugging); noun (a tug, tugs)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To tug is to pull something suddenly and firmly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tug/#m1)

2) A tug is a quick, strong pull. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tug/#m2)

3) A tug (or tugboat) is a small, strong boat that pushes and pulls big ships in a harbour. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tug/#m3)

4) «A tug at your heart» is a sudden sad or loving feeling. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tug/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In PE and play, «tug of war» is a game where two teams pull a rope in opposite directions. In science, a tug is a pulling force; the stronger force wins. In stories, a child tugs at a parent's sleeve to get attention. Phrases: «tug of war», «tug at», «give it a tug», «tug at your heartstrings».

### examples

- She tugged my sleeve to show me the rainbow. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tug/#x1)
- Our class won the tug of war. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tug/#x2)
- Give the rope a good tug. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tug/#x3)
- A tug pushed the big ship into the dock. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tug/#x4)
- The dog tugged on its lead. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tug/#x5)
- The sad film gave my heart a tug. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tug/#x6)
- Pulling with more force helps your team in a tug of war. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tug/#x7)
- At last young Lambton felt a mighty tug at his line. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tug/#x8)

### note

Regular verb but double the g: tugged, tugging. A tug is short and firm; a «pull» can be long and steady. «Tug of war» has no hyphens in most British use.

### In the corpora

- [On a walk your dog stops at a lamp post and sniffs for ages while you tug the lead.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/193-how-a-dog-thinks-smells-sounds-and-faces/0/)
- [Lily tells her friends she does not find the ponytail tugging cute — she finds it annoying.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/368-speaking-up-is-bravery-too/16/)
- [Every morning in the line for assembly, Tom tugged Lily's ponytail.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/387-ponytail-tugging-crushes-shown-clumsily/0/)
- [Some children who like someone show it clumsily, by teasing, tugging or hiding their things.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/387-ponytail-tugging-crushes-shown-clumsily/19/)
- [Kind words, like a compliment or a hello, work far better than tugs and tricks.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/387-ponytail-tugging-crushes-shown-clumsily/25/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «tug» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tug/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.