Lug

How to spell lug

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce lug

What does lug mean?

1. verbTo carry or drag something heavy with considerable effort.
2. nounA projecting part of an object used as a handle, support, or fitting, especially in machinery.

Lug in a sentence

• verb

  She had to lug two suitcases up four flights of stairs.

• noun

  The engine mount is bolted to a metal lug welded onto the frame.

• verb

  Removal crews lug heavy boxes from the van all morning.

• noun

  Each wheel is held in place by a single threaded lug.

Where does lug come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

This is an old, plain-spoken word that most likely came into English from a Scandinavian source, related to the Swedish 'lugga', meaning to pull someone about by the hair, and the dialectal Norwegian 'lugge' with much the same sense. It first surfaces in English around the late 1300s with the idea of pulling, hauling, or dragging something with real effort. From the verb came a family of practical nouns: a 'lug' could be an ear (something you can be pulled by), a projecting handle or flap on an object, and later a sturdy fitting or bracket in machinery. The spelling is mercifully phonetic, the only quirk being that the short word ends in a single hard 'g'. Its blunt, physical meaning has stayed remarkably steady for over six centuries.

How the word is built

• lug (single root, of Scandinavian origin meaning to pull or drag)