pug
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pug¹
- /pʌɡ/ US, UK
- /pɐɡ/ Australia, New Zealand
- /pʊɡ/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌɡ
Where it comes from
Origin unknown, possibly related to West Flemish pugge (“(adjective) small; (noun) short person; pet name derived from the first name Pugge”); though it is uncertain whether sense 1 (“senses relating to someone or something small”) and sense 2 (“senses relating to people”) are derived from the same source.
Etymology 1 sense 1.8 (“small demon”) was probably influenced by, though not a variant of, puck.
noun pugs
-
A pug dog, a small dog of an ancient breed originating in China, having a snub nose, wrinkled face, squarish body, short smooth hair, and curled tail.
She […] tells Fibs, makes Miſchief, buys China, cheats at Cards, keeps a Pug-dog, and hates the Parſons; […]
Similar: carlin, Chinese pug, Dutch bulldog, Dutch mastiff, mini mastiff, mops
- A pug moth, often with a descriptive word: any geometrid moth of the tribe Eupitheciini, especially the genus Eupithecia; a geometer moth.
- In full pug hood: a hood, sometimes with a short cloak attached, worn by women around the middle of the 18th century.
- In full pug engine: a small locomotive chiefly used for shunting (“moving trains from one track to another, or carriages from one train to another”).
- Also used as a proper name: any of various animals, such as a ferret, hare, squirrel, or young salmon. Dear, delicate Madam, I am your little Paraquit, your Sparrovv, your Shock, your Pugg, your Squirrel.
-
Synonym of teg (“a sheep (originally a ewe) in its second year, or from the time it is weaned until it is first shorn”).
It is to be observed in this experiment, […] that the loss of weight by feeding (tegs or pugs) on turnips, is remarkable: […]
Similar: teg
- An ape, a monkey; also (by extension) a human child. […] I heard her call him dear pug, and found him to be her favourite monkey.
- A fox. [T]here is a dead silence, till pug is well out of cover, and the whole pack well in: then cheer the hounds with tally ho! till your lungs crack. Away he goes in gallant style, and the whole field is hard up, till pug takes a stiff country: […]
- A person or thing that is squat (“broad and short”).
- A bun or knot of hair; also, a piece of cloth or snood for holding this in place.
- A small demon; an imp, a puck, a sprite. Satan. The great diuell. / Pvg. The leſſe diuell.
- Chiefly used by servants: A senior or upper servant in a household. Procedure would vary a little from household to household. Thus, the roast might be ceremonially borne out ahead of the departing ‘Pugs,’ or it might be left behind so that the lower servants could have second helpings.
-
A mistress, or a female prostitute; also (generally, derogatory) a woman.
[R]emember the Lo[rd] Admyrall [Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham] and the Lord Threasurer [Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset] with a couple of Pugges or some vscough baugh [i.e., usquebaugh or whiskey] or some such toyes, it would shew that you do not neglect them, whoe, I protest, are to y
Similar: abandons, alley cat, almah, bangtail, Bankside lady, bargirl, bat, beotch, blouze, blowen, blowsabella, brass nail
- A term of endearment for a person, or sometimes an animal or a toy such as a doll. I haue had foure huſbands my ſelfe. The firſt I called, Svveete Duck, the ſecond, Deare Heart; the third, Prettie Pugge: But the fourth, moſt ſvveete, deare, prettie, all in all: he vvas the verie cockeall of a huſband.
-
A bargeman.
Dares […] [W]ilt thou neuer trauell? / Epi[ton]. Yes in a VVeſterne barge, vvhen vvith a good vvinde and luſtie pugges, one may goe ten miles in tvvo daies.
Similar: bargee
- A cabin boy, a shipboy or ship's boy. [Ulysses] ty'd his deafen'd Sailors (vvhile he paſs'd / The dreadful Lady's Lodgings) to the Maſt, / And rather venture drovvning, than to vvrong / The Sea-pugs chaſte Ears vvith a bavvdy Song: […]
pug²
- /pʌɡ/ US, UK
- /pɐɡ/ Australia, New Zealand
- /pʊɡ/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌɡ
Where it comes from
Acronym of pickup group.
noun pugs
- Alternative letter-case form of PuG (“a group of players who are unknown to each other, grouped together to work toward a short-term goal such as completing a dungeon or a raid”).
pug³
- /pʌɡ/ US, UK
- /pɐɡ/ Australia, New Zealand
- /pʊɡ/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌɡ
Where it comes from
The noun is borrowed from Hindi पग (pag, “step; (less common) foot; leg”), from Old Hindi पगु (pagu), from Sanskrit पद्ग (padga), from पद् (pad, “step; foot”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step; to walk; to fall; to stumble”)) + ग (ga, stem at the ends of compounds denoting going or moving) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- (“to step”)).
The verb is derived from the noun.
noun pugs
- The footprint or pawprint of an animal; a pugmark. [T]here were the broad, deep puggs of a tiger, up and down the nullah, in the dry sand, near the water's edge, of all ages, from the week, perhaps, up to the unmistakeable fresh puggs of last night.
verb pugs · pugging · pugged
- To track (an animal) by following pawprints; also (by extension) to track (a person) by following footprints. Wishing to track a good boar that had got away through some thick cover, we called up the headman of the beat (a man lent to us by a friend) and asked him if he could pug. He was a havildar (sergeant) of police. He replied, 'That is my regular business, sahib; of course I can pug. My work is pugging
pug⁴
- /pʌɡ/ US, UK
- /pɐɡ/ Australia, New Zealand
- /pʊɡ/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌɡ
Where it comes from
Clipping of pugilist.
noun pugs
- Clipping of pugilist (“one who fights with their fists, especially a professional prize fighter; a boxer”). Anyhow I found myself facin' the pug, seein' bright red, and inclined to fight a dozen. I didn't last for more than one round—my game leg cramped me, I suppose. I got one or two on his ugly face, and then I suppose I took a knock-out.
pug⁵
- /pʌɡ/ US, UK
- /pɐɡ/ Australia, New Zealand
- /pʊɡ/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌɡ
Where it comes from
The origin of the verb is uncertain; it is possibly:
* related to southern Dutch puggen (“to hit hard”), German pucken (“to beat, thump”), possibly ultimately imitative; or
* related to poke (verb).
It is also uncertain whether the various senses are derived from the same source.
The origin of the noun is also uncertain; it is probably related to the verb.
verb pugs · pugging · pugged
- To hit or punch (someone or something); also, to poke (someone or something). Agosh! I long to try a bout / With zom o' Burdett's rabble rout; / I'd quickly pug their guts: / I'd gee mun zich a lammin [i.e., violent] lick, / I'd make mun of elections zick; / I'd gee mun all the butts.
- To fill or stop up (a space) with pug (noun etymology 5, noun sense 1), clay, sawdust, or other material by tamping; (specifically) to fill in (the space between joists of a floor, a partition, etc.) with some material to deaden sound, make fireproof, etc. Forbid it Venus! From the venal Fair / Snatch every charm, to Hay convert her Locks; / Pug up her nose, and pug-like make her stare; / And pit her pimpled visage with small-pox.
- To mix and work (wet clay) until flexible, soft, and free from air pockets and suitable for making bricks, pottery, etc. to pug clay ready for shaping
- Of cattle, etc.: to trample (the ground, a place, etc.) until it becomes muddy and soft; to poach.
- To pack or tamp (something) into a small space.
- To pack or tamp into a small space.
noun pugs
- Clay, soil, or other material which has been mixed and worked until flexible, soft, and free from air pockets and thus suitable for making bricks, pottery, etc.; also, any other material with a similar consistency or function, especially (Australia) auriferous (“gold-bearing”) clay. A brickfield certainly is not the place for girls and young women to work in; […] the work they have too, at least those who are pug-bearers, often causes indecency; they have to stoop down to the ground to pick the pug up from the bottom of the mill; at all events, they ought to have their clothes
- Ellipsis of pug mill (“kind of mill for grinding, mixing, and working clay”).
pug⁶
- /pʌɡ/ US, UK
- /pɐɡ/ Australia, New Zealand
- /pʊɡ/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌɡ
Where it comes from
Origin unknown; etymology 6 sense 1.2 (“to spoil (something) by touching too much”) is possibly influenced by pug (verb, noun) (see etymology 5) or puggy.
verb pugs · pugging · pugged
- To pull or tug (something). George pugg'd clover in the forenoon.
- To spoil (something) by touching too much. ["B]e sure not to wet it up too much; make it into twelve doughboys" (dumplings). / "I'm so heavy-handed," Jane remarked at this point, "I always spoil that sort of cookery." / "Tell about heavy-handed!" cried Betsy; "I'll answer for it, I'll soon put you in the way of being light-handed! You only w
- Followed by at: to pull or tug.
pug⁷
- /pʌɡ/ US, UK
- /pɐɡ/ Australia, New Zealand
- /pʊɡ/ Northern England
Rhymes with -ʌɡ
Where it comes from
From Late Middle English pugge (“husk of grain”); further etymology unknown, possibly related to pug (verb) (see etymology 5). However, the latter is only attested much later.
noun pugs
- The residue left after pressing apples for cider; pomace.
- Often in the plural: the husks and other refuse removed from grain by winnowing; chaff. Radiſh ſeed vvould vvillingly be ſovvne in a looſe or light ground, and natherleſſe moiſt enough: it cannot abide danke mucke, but contenteth it ſelfe vvith rotten chaffe or pugs, and ſuch like plaine mullock.
PuG⁸
noun PuGs · pug
- Acronym of pickup group (“group of players who are unknown to each other, grouped together to work toward a short-term goal, such as completing a dungeon or a raid”).
verb PuGs · PuGing · PuGed · pug
- To participate in structured content of an online game as part of a pickup group.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: pug-dog, pug nose, puggle, pugnose, peke, pibble, pugil, peekapoo, pugillaris, pekepoo, pekeapoo, pekie, pong, puplet, pugillare, spaniel
Translations
Talk about this word "pug." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pug. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. pug. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pug "pug." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pug.Cite this
@misc{pug_2026,
title = {pug},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pug},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
