"tugs" in the noun sense

1. tug, jerk

a sudden abrupt pull

2. tugboat, tug, towboat, tower

a powerful small boat designed to pull or push larger ships

"tugs" in the verb sense

1. tug

pull hard

"The prisoner tugged at the chains"

"This movie tugs at the heart strings"

2. tug, labor, labour, push, drive

strive and make an effort to reach a goal

"She tugged for years to make a decent living"

"We have to push a little to make the deadline!"

"She is driving away at her doctoral thesis"

3. tug

tow (a vessel) with a tug

"The tugboat tugged the freighter into the harbor"

4. lug, tote, tug

carry with difficulty

"You'll have to lug this suitcase"

5. tug

move by pulling hard

"The horse finally tugged the cart out of the mud"

6. tug

pull or strain hard at

"Each oar was tugged by several men"

7. tug

struggle in opposition

"She tugged and wrestled with her conflicts"

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

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