Illustration of slug
- slug 3
1
: sluggard
2
: a lump, disk, or cylinder of material (such as plastic or metal): such as
a(1)
: a musket ball
(2)
: bullet
b
: 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
slugged; slugging
: a heavy blow especially with the fist
slugged; slugging
1
: to strike heavily with or as if with the fist or a bat
2
: fight sense 4b
—usually used in the phrase slug it out
Examples of slug in a Sentence
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
Sj McShane,
Martha Stewart,
30 June 2026
Watch for Summer Pests Check leaves and leaf axils weekly for mealybugs, aphids, and slugs.
—
Leanne Potts,
Better Homes & Gardens,
27 June 2026
Miami Herald,
4 July 2026
At Daytona International Speedway more than 70,000 persons whooped, hollered and slugged down beer watching Cale Yarborough win the Firecracker 400 automobile race.
—
Orlando Sentinel Staff,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 July 2026
See All Example Sentences for slug
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Noun
Dunlap explains that these pungent compounds deter strawberry-loving garden pests like slugs and aphids while also acting as mild fungicides.
—
Sj McShane,
Martha Stewart,
30 June 2026
Watch for Summer Pests Check leaves and leaf axils weekly for mealybugs, aphids, and slugs.
—
Leanne Potts,
Better Homes & Gardens,
27 June 2026
Verb
The Athletics displayed life in the bottom of the third as Alika Williams doubled and Kurtz slugged a mammoth 457-foot, two-run homer to center, his 20th of the season.
—
Miami Herald,
4 July 2026
At Daytona International Speedway more than 70,000 persons whooped, hollered and slugged down beer watching Cale Yarborough win the Firecracker 400 automobile race.
—
Orlando Sentinel Staff,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 July 2026
See All Example Sentences for slug
Cite this Entry
“Slug.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/slug. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
slug
1 of 3 nounslug
2 of 3 noun
: a heavy blow especially with the fist
slug
3 of 3 verb
slugged; slugging
: to strike heavily with or as if with the fist or a bat
Etymology
Noun
Middle English slugge "a lazy person"; of Scandinavian origin
Noun
perhaps from earlier slug (verb) "to load (a weapon) with slugs"
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