Plug
Pronunciation
- enPR: plÅg, IPA: /plʌɡ/
- Rhymes: -ʌɡ
Origin
1606; from Dutch plug, from Middle Dutch plugge 'peg, plug', from Proto-Germanic *plugjaz (cf. Low German Plüg, German Pflock 'needle', Norwegian plug 'peg, small wedge'); akin to Lithuanian plúkti 'to strike, hew'.
Noun
plug
(plural plugs)- (electricity) A pronged connecting device which fits into a mating socket.I pushed the plug back into the electrical socket and the lamp began to glow again.
- Any piece of wood, metal, or other substance used to stop or fill a hole; a stopple.Pull the plug out of the tub so it can drain.
- (US) A flat oblong cake of pressed tobacco.He preferred a plug of tobacco to loose chaw.
- (US, slang) A high, tapering silk hat.
- (US, slang) A worthless horse.That sorry old plug is ready for the glue factory!
- (construction) A block of wood let into a wall to afford a hold for nails.
- A mention of a product (usually a book, film or play) in an interview, or an interview which features one or more of these.During the interview, the author put in a plug for his latest novel.
- (geology) A body of once molten rock that hardened in a volcanic vent. Usually round or oval in shape.Pressure built beneath the plug in the caldera, eventually resulting in a catastrophic explosion of pyroclastic shrapnel and ash.
- (fishing) A type of lure consisting of a rigid, buoyant or semi-buoyant body and one or more hooks.The fisherman cast the plug into a likely pool, hoping to catch a whopper.
- (horticulture) A small seedling grown in a tray from expanded polystyrene or polythene filled usually with a peat or compost substrate.
Derived terms
Coordinate terms
- (worthless horse) bum (racing)
Full definition of plug
Verb
- (transitive) To stop with a plug; to make tight by stopping a hole.He attempted to plug the leaks with some caulk.
- (transitive) To blatantly mention a particular product or service as if advertising it.The main guest on the show just kept plugging his latest movie: it got so tiresome.
- (intransitive, informal) To persist or continue with something.Keep plugging at the problem until you find a solution.
- (transitive) To shoot a bullet into something with a gun.
- 1884, , I am awfully glad that you kept your nerve and plugged him; it would have been better if you could have nailed him through the right shoulder, which would not have killed him...
- (slang, transitive) to have sex with, penetrate sexually.I'd love to plug her.