chug
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A large gulp of drink.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
chuhgIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtʃʌɡ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A large gulp of drink.
The dull explosive noise made by an engine
A dog that is a cross between a pug and a chihuahua.
A homemade Cuban boat, built to carry emigrants to the USA, and often abandoned upon arrival.
verb
transitivecolloquial
To drink a large amount (especially of beer) in a single action/without breathing; to chugalug. Usually chanted at the person who is drinking.
Make a dull, explosive sound
“The engine chugged down the street.”
intransitive
To move or travel whilst making such sounds.
intransitiveby extension
To move or travel at a steady, although not especially fast, pace.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A large gulp of drink.
Used this way, chug is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.