How to use tug in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun

Tug means to pull or drag with great effort. Example: “The police officers tugged the drunkard out of the pub.”

Examples of tug by meaning

verbTo pull or drag with great effort.

The police officers tugged the drunkard out of the pub.

verbTo pull hard repeatedly.

He lost his patience trying to undo his shoe-lace, but tugging it made the knot even tighter.

nounA sudden powerful pull.

But Van Persie slotted home 40 seconds after the break before David Wheater saw red for a tug on Theo Walcott.2011 September 24, David Ornstein, “Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC Sport

nounA tugboat.

Shipping of every sort, from passenger liners to ferry steamers, tramps to tugs and trailing barges, feluccas to speedboats and yachts, from warships to caiques, chugs, hoots, glides or churns its way in all directions.1950 July, J. C. Mertens, “By the "Taurus Express" to Baghdad”, in Railway Magazine, page 435

nounA type of tractor used for moving trailers.

They are then loaded onto ferries by dockyard tractors called "tugs".2025 August 20, Paul Clifton, “Ro Ro Rail takes the freight train to Spain”, in RAIL, number 1042, page 49

nounA kind of vehicle used for conveying timber and heavy articles.

Cattiwi came down the steep lane with his five-horse timber-tug1910, Rudyard Kipling, Simple Simon

nounAn act of male masturbation.

He had a quick tug to calm himself down before his date.

More sentences with tug

Plant your feet firmly and give the rope a good tug.From the entry plant
The sad eyes of the orphan tugged at my heartstrings.From the entry heartstrings
A doleful expression that tugged at my heartstrings.From the entry doleful
I just put the rice on five minutes ago, so your timing's perfect.' He tugged his forelock.2014, Caroline Anderson, The Baby From Nowhere, Harlequin, →ISBN. From the entry strog
The older of the two jacks reached forward and gave Henry's right paw a quick tug.2013, Nick Oldham, Big City Jacks. From the entry jack
It tugged at my heartstrings with Steve's memories, as well as giving me so many Stony feels.2013 July, “Fandoms Assemble 2013 Fanfic Awards”, in Fandoms Assemble, page 21. From the entry stony
A fighter, she wore the traditional haircut, shaved temples, roach of hair tugged back in a horsetail.2012, Clayton Emery, Mortal Consequences: Forgotten Realms. From the entry horsetail
She tugged the cloth napkin off the bow guard, sitting on the table.2011, Michelle L. Levigne, The Rift War, →ISBN. From the entry bow guard
Blue Shirts drove tugs, threw chocks, pushed airplanes, and scrubbed decks.2011, Max Gallimore -, From Here to Caprock, →ISBN, page 266. From the entry blue shirt
She straightened up quickly to tug her dress down and turned to see Glennis.2010, Julie Cannon, Mater Biscuit, page 239. From the entry I see London, I see France
Captain of my own tug boat, but soon I'll have that Yacht to Sail.2010, Sergio J.L.H. Sanders, Life Medsᵀᴹ, Breakfast & Orange Juice, page 53. From the entry sigma male
In the bedroom Elaine would have fixed the pillows and sat up, tugging open her jammy top.2009, Liam McIlvanney, All the Colours of the Town, Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 24. From the entry jammy
As I squeeze headfirst out of the sleepout, something invisible tugs at my legs.2009, Craig Silvey, Jasper Jones, Allen & Unwin, page 2. From the entry sleepout
'They were meant to play,' says Eavis, tugging at his unfeasibly tight blue shorts.2008 May 18, Paul Mardles, “The case study: Michael Eavis”, in The Observer. From the entry unfeasibly
She falls heavily onto her side, tugs a bodypillow up under her, throws a leg over it.2005, David H. Fears, Thornton's Apprentice and Other Stories, Horizon Micro Press, →ISBN, page 164. From the entry bodypillow
"Don't be a gudgeon," she grumbled, tugging at the dress much more fiercely than was necessary.2004, Robert Jordan, “Making Use of Invisibility”, in New Spring, New York, N.Y.: Tor Books, Tom Doherty Associates, →ISBN, page 298. From the entry gudgeon
Earl, who has lobstered, scalloped, groundfished and run tugs most of his life, is half joking.2004 January 1, Bob Bernstein, “Pumping out the heat”, in National Fisherman. From the entry groundfish
Feeling the crush of gravity again, the insistent tug on limbs and jowls and eyelashes.2004, Wil McCarthy, Lost in Transmission (Sci-Fi), Random House, →ISBN. From the entry squozen
“Play it, Ma,” shouted Etta as she tugged Hanna's hooverette dress.2003, Eva B. Moses, To Plant Heaven, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 87. From the entry hooverette
"Okay, Xena," he said, taking the rope from Haley and tugging the branch toward the back door.2001, Judith Arnold, Muriel Jensen, Bobby Hutchinson, All Summer Long, page 148. From the entry Xena
Exasperated, he unties them and tugs them over to the damside, where there is abundant grass.1999, JM Coetzee, Disgrace, Vintage, published 2000, page 123. From the entry damside
This method has been used for long ocean tows by tugs with a single-drum winch.1989, John S. Blank, Modern Towing, page 302. From the entry underrunner
One boy tried to tightrope walk through the fountain until he was tugged back by a friend.1983 November 21, Charles Fishman, “The Pilgrimage”, in The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC…. From the entry tightrope walk
At 2:30 P.M. two gray-and-yellow tugs began horsing her out of her berth.1981, Robert Roderick, The Greek Position: A Novel, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN. From the entry horse
Each tug captain has a detailed set of tow-out instructions, positions and timing procedures.1978, Mark Williams, No cure, no pay: the story of salvage at sea, page 169. From the entry towmaster
Only then can the casualty hope to heave over the actual tow-wire from the tug.1977, Gerald Forsberg, “Stricken vessels. Ocean towage”, in Salvage from the Sea, London; Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire: Routledge and…. From the entry teach grandma how to suck eggs
Jessamy tugged the scrolled iron bellpull which hung down on one side of the gate.1967, Barbara Sleigh, “The Holiday Aunt”, in Jessamy, 1st US edition, Indianapolis, Ind.; Kansas City, Mo.: Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC…. From the entry jangle
Jessamy tugged the scrolled iron bell-pull which hung down on one side of the gate.1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 11. From the entry scrolled
The smoke of Falk's tug hove in sight, far away at the mouth of the river.1901, Joseph Conrad, Falk. From the entry heave in sight
I gently tugged the bag of cheese away from Bear.2024, L. A. Witt, Interference. From the entry cheese tax
McCaskill, then an independent diversity, equity and inclusion consultant in Harlem, felt a tug to pay it forward.2024 March 1, Tammy LaGorce, “How Their Corporate Speak Turned Into a Language of Love”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New…. From the entry corporate speak
She ran her fingers down his leg, tugging up his jeans to reveal a blue-red bruise already starting to swell.2021, Allie Boniface, Inferno of Love. From the entry blue-red
The sun was beginning to set, and under the tangerine sky, Reese tugged his undershirt over his head.2020, Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half, Dialogue Books, page 343. From the entry tangerine

Meaning of tug

verb To pull or drag with great effort.
verb To pull hard repeatedly.
verb To tow by tugboat.

Full definition of tug

Questions about tug in a sentence

How do you use tug in a sentence?: Tug is used as a verb and noun. For example: “The police officers tugged the drunkard out of the pub.”
What is a short sentence with tug?: “A doleful expression that tugged at my heartstrings.”
What does tug mean?: Tug means to pull or drag with great effort.

Adapted from Wiktionary: tug (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use tug in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/tug. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.