tug

 

To tug at something is to pull. It’s usually used with ropes, strings, and loose items of clothing, but it can be used with other things:

simplepastpast participle
tug
tugged
tugged
  • Raymond’s son is tugging on his shirt.
  • That small boat is tugging a barge on the river.
  • The urge to go to college keeps tugging at her.
  • Don’t tug on that! It’ll fall over.
  • The cat tugged on the tablecloth until the coffee cup crashed to the floor. (Bad cat!)

A popular competition that requires a great show of strength is called tug of war. The game is played with a rope. There are two sides. Each side takes one end of the rope and tries to pull the other side forward.

tug of war

tug of war

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February 8, 2013