Dictionaries › English

chug

Pronunciation: /t͡ʃʌɡ/

The English word “chug” has 12 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A dull, fairly quick explosive or percussive sound, as if made by a labouring engine.
  2. A large gulp of drink.
  3. A homemade Cuban boat, built to carry emigrants to the USA, and often abandoned upon arrival.
  4. A person of Native American descent.
  5. A palm muted note on a distorted electric guitar.
  6. A dog that is a cross between a pug and a chihuahua.

verb

  1. To make dull explosive sounds.
  2. To move or travel whilst making such sounds.
  3. To move or travel at a steady, although not especially fast, pace.
  4. To drink a large amount (especially of beer) in a single action/without breathing; to chugalug. Usually chanted at the person who is drinking.
  5. To function or perform with difficulty, typically due to inadequate resources or performance limitations.
  6. To solicit charitable donations on the street, particularly in a persistent manner.

Etymology

Onomatopoeic, in imitation of a working steam engine. The racial slur sense derives from the stereotype of Native Americans chugging alcohol.

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “chug” there

More English words

About this dictionary

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.