# tug

> English word · Verb · IPA /tʌɡ/ · frequency rank #15,079

## Definitions
1. To pull or drag with great effort.
2. To pull hard repeatedly.
3. To tow by tugboat.
4. To masturbate.

## Etymology
From Middle English tuggen, toggen, from Old English togian (“to draw, drag”), from Proto-West Germanic *togōn, from Proto-Germanic *tugōną (“to draw, tear”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull”).
Cognate with Middle Low German togen (“to draw”), Middle High German zogen (“to pull, tear off”), Icelandic toga (“to pull, draw”). Related to tow.

## Easily confused with
- **TV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-tv)
- **TX** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-tx)
- **Ty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-ty)
- **two** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-two)
- **tum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-tum)
- **tun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-tun)
- **tut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-tut)
- **tux** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-tux)
- **TWA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-twa)
- **tui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-tui)
- **tur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-tur)
- **tye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-tye)
- **twp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-twp)
- **Tyr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-tyr)
- **turn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-turn)
- **tune** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-tune)
- **turf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-turf)
- **tuna** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-tuna)
- **Turk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-turk)
- **turd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tug-vs-turd)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/tug