: a piece of metal roughly shaped for subsequent processing
c
: a $50 gold piece
d
: a disk for insertion in a slot machine
especially: one used illegally instead of a coin
3
: any of numerous chiefly terrestrial pulmonate gastropods (order Stylommatophora) that are found in most parts of the world where there is a reasonable supply of moisture and are closely related to the land snails but are long and wormlike and have only a rudimentary shell often buried in the mantle or entirely absent
4
: a smooth soft larva of a sawfly or moth that creeps like a mollusk
5
a
: a quantity of liquor drunk in one swallow
b
: a detached mass of fluid (such as water vapor or oil) that causes impact (as in a circulating system)
6
a
: a strip of metal thicker than a printer's lead
b
: a line of type cast as one piece
c
: a usually temporary type line serving to instruct or identify
7
: the gravitational unit of mass in the foot-pound-second system to which a pound force can impart an acceleration of one foot per second per second and which is equal to the mass of an object weighing 32 pounds
Noun (1)
he's always a slug in the morning, which is why he prefers to sleep late
knocked back another slug of whiskey Noun (2)
one well aimed slug on the head knocked him out Verb (2)
she got so angry that she slugged the back of the chair and knocked it over
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
On the eve of the convention’s most ballyhooed slug fest, even as Roosevelt publicly offered support to Wallace, the selection of a running mate remained up in the air.—Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 4 Aug. 2024 In addition to adding a cheerful and colorful note to a container or bed, marigolds distract slugs and snails from basil leaves and keep basil plants blemish-free.—Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 23 July 2024
Verb
The Guardians can’t slug with the best offenses, and the back end of their rotation is suspect.—Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun, 9 Aug. 2024 Immediately after Melvin’s ejection, Jorge Soler slugged a leadoff home run that gave the Giants an early 1-0 lead.—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 21 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for slug
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'slug.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun (1)
Middle English slugge, of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect slugga to walk sluggishly
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