VocabauraVOCABAURA

slug

noun · verb

Simple meaning

Any of many gastropod mollusks, having no shell.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

sluhg
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈslʌɡ

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  1. Any of many gastropod mollusks, having no (or only a rudimentary) shell.

  2. A bullet or other projectile fired from a firearm; in modern usage, generally refers to a shotgun slug.

  3. A projectile that is fired from a gun

  4. Any of various terrestrial gastropods having an elongated slimy body and no external shell

  5. A solid block or piece of roughly shaped metal.

  6. A counterfeit coin, especially one used to steal from vending machines.

verb

  1. To drink quickly; to gulp; to down.

  2. To take part in casual carpooling; to form ad hoc, informal carpools for commuting, essentially a variation of ride-share commuting and hitchhiking.

  3. intransitiveof a bullet

    To become reduced in diameter, or changed in shape, by passing from a larger to a smaller part of the bore of the barrel.

  4. transitive

    To hit very hard, usually with the fist.

  5. transitive

    To load with a slug or slugs.

  6. To make sluggish.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Any of many gastropod mollusks, having no (or only a rudimentary) shell.

Used this way, slug 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

Nearby words

  • bullet , more casual, better suited to speech than writing

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

Share your sentence

Write your own example sentence using “slug”. We review each one before it appears.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Various / gastropod

sea slugbanana slugliquid slug

Other combinations

slug flowslug testgarden sluglead slugbig slug

Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • sluggernounInflected form

    A ballplayer who is batting.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • type slugnounCompound term

    A strip of type metal used for spacing.

  • sea slugnounCompound term

    Any of various marine gastropods of the suborder Nudibranchia having a shell-less and often beautifully colored body.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

noun

Sense: any of many gastropod mollusks

bulletInformal

verb

Sense: to drink quickly

swig

Use This Word

See how this word sounds in a real sentence.

Ask Vocabaura

Understand the word your way.

What Does It Mean Here?

Words can change meaning depending on context.

Use it yourself

Knowing “slug” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.

Know the meaning? Practice using it in a real situation, free, no credits.

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.