slug Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a projectile that is fired from a gun
    bullet.
  2. noun a unit of mass equal to the mass that accelerates at 1 foot/sec/sec when acted upon by a force of 1 pound; approximately 14.5939 kilograms
  3. noun a counterfeit coin
  4. noun an idle slothful person
    sluggard.
  5. noun an amount of an alcoholic drink (usually liquor) that is poured or gulped
    • he took a slug of hard liquor
  6. noun a strip of type metal used for spacing
    type slug.
  7. noun any of various terrestrial gastropods having an elongated slimy body and no external shell
  8. noun (boxing) a blow with the fist
    biff; punch; clout; poke; lick.
    • I gave him a clout on his nose
  9. verb strike heavily, especially with the fist or a bat
    swig; slog.
    • He slugged me so hard that I passed out
  10. verb be idle; exist in a changeless situation
    idle; stagnate; laze.
    • The old man sat and stagnated on his porch
    • He slugged in bed all morning

WordNet

Slug noun
Etymology
OE. slugge slothful, sluggen to be slothful; cf. LG. slukk low-spirited, sad, E. slack, slouch, D. slak, slek, a snail.
Definitions
  1. A drone; a slow, lazy fellow; a sluggard. Shak.
  2. A hindrance; an obstruction. Obs. Bacon.
  3. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of terrestrial pulmonate mollusks belonging to Limax and several related genera, in which the shell is either small and concealed in the mantle, or altogether wanting. They are closely allied to the land snails.
  4. (Zoöl.) Any smooth, soft larva of a sawfly or moth which creeps like a mollusk; as, the pear slug; rose slug.
  5. A ship that sails slowly. Obs. Halliwell.
    His rendezvous for his fleet, and for all slugs to come to, should be between Calais and Dover. Pepys.
  6. Perhaps a different word. An irregularly shaped piece of metal, used as a missile for a gun. also, a colloq. term for bullet.
  7. (Print.) A thick strip of metal less than type high, and as long as the width of a column or a page, -- used in spacing out pages and to separate display lines, etc.
Slug intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To move slowly; to lie idle. Obs.
    To slug in sloth and sensual delight. Spenser.
Slug transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To make sluggish. Obs. Milton.
Slug transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Slugged ; present participle & verbal noun Slugging
Definitions
  1. To load with a slug or slugs; as, to slug a gun.
  2. To strike heavily. Cant or Slang
Slug intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To become reduced in diameter, or changed in shape, by passing from a larger to a smaller part of the bore of the barrel; -- said of a bullet when fired from a gun, pistol, or other firearm.

Webster 1913