| 释义 |
▪ I. slug, n.1|slʌg|
Also 5–7 slugg(e.
[Related to slug v.1: cf. Norw. dial. slugg a large heavy body, sluggje a heavy slow person.]
1. a. A slow, lazy fellow; a sluggard. † Also personified, slothfulness.
c1425Castle Persev. 2341 in Macro Plays, A, good men! be-war now all of Slugge & Slawthe, þe fowle þefe! a1500Pol., Rel., & L. Poems (1866) 32 The slugge lokyth to be holpe of god that commawndyth men to waake in the worlde. 1575Turberv. Faulconrie 159 Do this as often as she useth to fishe or to play the base slugge on that fashion. 1615Curry-Combe for a Coxe-Combe i. 14 Hee that is lumpish at his meales, will proue but a slug in his more serious affaires. 1686Goad Celest. Bodies ii. viii. 256 Nature is a Slugg, and doth nothing at the sight of a Whip. 1778Learning at a Loss II. 149 My Uncle you know is a devilish Slugg in Conversation at best. 1812Tennant Anster Fair iii. x, For who like arrant slugs can keep their heads In contact with their pillows now unstirr'd. 1888Doughty Arabia Deserta I. 90 A loiterer at his labour and a slug in the morning.
b. A contemptible person; a fat person.
In some instances the influence of sense 4 a is probable.
1931A. Huxley Let. 25 Sept. (1969) 355, I am making notes for a short study..and tho' this cannot be specifically a retort to Murry it will in effect try to undo some of the mischief that that slug has undoubtedly done. 1940G. & S. Lorimer First Love Farewell iv. 133 ‘He didn't love me and I felt pretty bad about it!’ ‘The complete and utter slug!’ 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ix. 168 The unfortunate fat boy..is known as..slug. 1966‘J. Hackston’ Father clears Out 104 No more big slugs turning up, the rush lost its enthusiasm.
†2. A slow-sailing vessel. Obs.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 26 b, His shippe was but a slugge. 1624Cal. State P., Col. 260 [The Rose,] being a slug, will never make a good man-of-war. 1666Lond. Gaz. No. 59/4 All the rest of our ships, besides the heavy sluggs.., are come in to the Gunfleet. 1687Phil. Trans. XVI. 456 They will certainly be Sluggs, not near so good Sailers as Ships made of Timber fell'd later in the Year. a1734North Lives (1826) III. 92 The characters of the several vessels.., some windwardly, some not stay well, some slugs.
fig.1622C. Fitzgeffrey Elisha 37 Flie Boates for their owne profit, very Sluggs for the Republique. 1659Gauden Tears Church 381 Presbytery..soon grew a slug, when once the North-Wind ceased to fill its sailes.
3. a. An animal, vehicle, etc., of a slow-moving or sluggish character; (see also quot. 1727).
1618Latham Falconry (1633) 7 The slower flying Hawke or slugge doth winne what she gets most by her policie. 1650Fuller Pisgah ii. viii. 177 Massie iron [chariots] (such would have been slugs in fight). 1727Boyer Dict. Royal s.v. Garde-boutique, A Commodity that grows a Slug, a Commodity that sticks by one. 1778[W. H. Marshall] Minutes Agric. 4 Dec. 1775, He has not worked harder than the rest of the [ox-] team,..for he was always a slug. 1806Beresford Miseries Hum. Life vi. Stage Coaches ii. Travelling..in a stage-coach—I beg pardon—in a ‘Slug’. 1863W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vii. 276 Manelle, my other nag, is an incorrigible slug. 1894M. Dyan Man's Keeping (1899) 171 When not excited, an Arab horse is a slug.
†b. A relaxed or weak bow. Obs. (Cf. slug v.1 4, quot. 1600.)
1614–25Boys Wks. (1629) 487 Cupid shoots in a slugge, and hits none but the sluggish.
4. a. A slow-moving slimy gasteropod or land-snail (of the type represented by the families Limacidæ and Arionidæ), in which the shell is rudimentary or entirely absent.
1704Petiver Gazophyl. ii. §xvii, This resembles our small Slug, and like it, is whitish below, but brownish above. 1725Fam. Dict. s.v. Mushroom, Garden Snails, the large black Dew Snails, and others without Shells call'd Slugs. 1803Med. Jrnl. IX. 358 Moles..are carnivorous animals, preying on the slug, the great enemy of horticulture. 1844Emerson New. Eng. Ref. Wks. (Bohn) I. 259 A society for the protection of ground-worms, slugs, and mosquitos. 1873R. Broughton Nancy II. 206, I feel as if a slug had crawled over me.
b. With distinguishing epithets.
1780Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) VI. 4235/2 The black slug, the white slug, the reddish slug, the ash-coloured slug, &c. 1807A. Young Agric. Essex (1813) II. 93 The depredations of the white slug or snail. 1839Penny Cycl. XIII. 486/2 This section consists of the Grey Slugs. Ibid., The supposed virtues of a decoction..of Red Slugs. 1858Baird Cycl. Nat. Sci. s.v. Limax, The variegated slug. 1870Rolleston Anim. Life 187 Cellar Slug (Limax flavus). 1887Encycl. Brit. XXII. 187/2 The larger black slugs are species of Arion.
c. (See quot.)
1863Woodward in Intellect. Obs. Nov. 229 Every collector of fossils has heard of the ‘Fairy-loaves’..and ‘Slugs’ (palatal teeth of Ptychodus, etc.).
5. a. A slug-worm; a caterpillar or larva resembling a slug (see quots. 1868 and 1892).
1799W. D. Peck Nat. Hist. Slug Worm 13 The viscous coat of the Slugs seems to be their sufficient defence in the larva state. 1862T. W. Harris Insects Inj. Veget. 517 Others have dark-colored slimy skin, which has caused them to be called slugs, or slug-worms. 1868Q. Rev. CXXIV. 466 The caterpillars of two moths of the genus Agrotis are often called slugs. 1892Chambers's Encycl. IX. 512/1 The name Slug is often applied by gardeners to the larvae of saw-flies (Tenthredinidae).
b. A sea-slug.
1855Kingsley Glaucus (1878) 114 A group of milk-white slugs (Cucumaria hynumanni), from two to six inches long. 1860Wraxall Life in Sea viii. 188 A protecting apparatus, into which the slugs can withdraw their soft bodies on the approach of danger. 1865Mrs. L. L. Clarke Common Seaweeds i. 23 On the green Ulva creeps the lovely little slug..called Acteon viridis.
6. attrib. and Comb., as slug-eaten, slug-eater, slug-killer, slug-like, etc.; † slug-beetle (?); slug caterpillar, a caterpillar of the genus Limacodes; slug-fly, the fly of the slug-worm; slug pellet, a pellet of bait containing a poison to kill slugs; slug-snail, = sense 4.
c1711Petiver Gazophyl. x. §92 Black Pounc'd Madras *Slug-beetle.
1862T. W. Harris Insects Inj. Veget. 420 The most common of these *slug-caterpillars, in Massachusetts, live on walnut-trees.
1867Gard. Chron. 7 Sept. 937 A large portion was *slug-eaten.
1890Science-Gossip XXV. 149/2 Thrushes are..great *slug-eaters.
1799W. D. Peck Nat. Hist. Slug Worm 11 The Tenthredo Cerasi or Saw-fly of the Cherry-tree has the greatest affinity to the *Slug-fly. 1862T. W. Harris Insects Inj. Veget. 529 This slug-fly is of a glossy black color.
1883Sutton's Cult. Veget. & Fl. 281 Lime, salt, soot, and nitrate of soda, are certain *Slug Killers.
1826Kirby & Sp. Entomol. xxx. III. 140 The larvæ of Haworth's genus,..remarkable for their *slug-like shape and appearance. 1877Huxley & Martin Elem. Biol. 23 Another common form progresses rapidly with a slug-like movement.
1960Do it Yourself Gardening Ann. 100/3 The most effective way of controlling slugs and snails is to use a metaldehyde-bait mixture... The easiest way to do this is to use a proprietary brand of *slug pellets. 1976L. Thomas Dangerous Davies xvi. 188 A large tin of garden slug pellets.
1867Gard. Chron. 7 Sept. 937 The *slug-pest is this year in full vigour.
1687Miége Gt. Fr. Dict. ii, *Slug-snail, un Limaçon. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Slug or Slug-Snail, a Dew-snail that has no Shell. 1812Sir J. Sinclair Syst. Husb. Scot. i. 211 The frequent ploughings..effectually prevent the depredations of the slug-snail.
▪ II. slug, n.2|slʌg|
Also 7–8 slugg(e, 7 sluge.
[Perhaps the same word as prec.]
1. a. A piece of lead or other metal for firing from a gun; a roughly-formed bullet.
1622MS. Sessions Roll, Durham, Unum tormentum anglice a gun oneratum cum quadam plumbea machina vocata a Slugg. 1645in Rushw. Hist. Collect. iv. I. 58 They were pelted with Granadoes and Slugs of hot Iron. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. r. World 263 All our small shot was expended, which oblig'd us to fall astern to make some slugs. 1753Hanway Trav. (1762) I. iii. xxxvi. 163 One of the pieces went off, and carried two sluggs through the top. 1803W. Wittman Trav. Turkey 201 The wounded man was brought off; and the balls and slugs afterwards extracted. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiii. III. 375 Cutting lead from the roof of the Marquess's house and shaping it into slugs. 1879Stanley Through Dark Cont. xxiv. (1889) 440 We..replied with shot, slugs, and bullets.
fig.a1677Barrow Serm. Wks. 1700 I. 356 Discharging sluggs against our neighbours reputation.
b. slang. Some kind of strong drink (obs.); a dram; a drink. Now chiefly U.S.
1756W. Toldervy Hist. Two Orphans (1765) II. 112 Gunpowder, slug, wild-fire, knock-me-down. 1762Smollett Sir L. Greaves xvii, He ordered the waiter..to..bring along-side a short allowance of brandy or grog, that he might cant a slug into his bread-room. 1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T. s.v., To fire a slug, to drink a dram. 1895in Funk's Stand. Dict. 1916H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap vi. 245 Even the new Episcopalian minister..took a slug of rye and said it was undeniably delightful. 1940R. Chandler Farewell, my Lovely v. 34, I poured her a slug that would have made me float over a wall. 1958C. Williams Man in Motion (1959) i. 6 Pouring another cup of coffee, I dropped a slug of bourbon in it. 1973C. Bonington Next Horizon xv. 216 The scene was Hogarthian—with a soldier lying flat in the gutter,..a mother giving her eighteen-month babe a slug of the fire-water, to stop it crying. 1978L. Heren Growing up on The Times v. 182 Their simple niceness was almost as good as a slug of scotch and a cigarette which I..could not enjoy in their company.
c. A compact mass of liquid regarded as retaining its identity as it travels.
1947I. Thomas Injection Molding of Plastics vi. 353 If the reservoir were omitted the cold slug of material would enter the cavity and possibly cause smudge or flow marks in the molded article. 1967Guardian 13 Feb. 14/6 In each pipe will be methane gas plus liquid oil called the ‘slug’... Once ashore the gas and slug have to be separated and cleaned. 1971Nature 21 May 181/1 A rapid intravenous injection leads to a ‘slug’ of relatively undispersed drug traversing the arteries on the first circuit. 1975Petroleum Rev. XXIX. 315/3 A collection of liquid, known as a ‘slug’, can amount to several hundred thousand gallons and will travel along the pipeline at a speed of up to 10 miles per hour. 1979Nature 8 Feb. 441/1 The velocity of the ejected slug of [volcanic] debris.
†2. A heavy gun or cannon. Obs.—0
1677in Miége Fr. Dict. ii. (Hence in some later Dicts.)
3. a. A heavy piece of crude metal, usually rounded in form; a nugget (of gold).
1849Picayune (New Orleans) 6 June 1/6 The gold from that stream is generally in large pieces, more generally termed slugs or coarse, but very fine gold, if you please. 1855Golden Era (San Francisco) 21 Jan. 2/7 We took out one slug weighing 60 ounces of pure gold, in the shape of an ox's tongue. a1891Elect. Rev. (Amer.) XVI. viii. 2 (Cent.), ‘That is platinum, and it is worth about $150.’ It was an insignificant looking slug. 1894Westm. Gaz. 5 May 7/1 Rumours were current..as to the finding of a 17lb. ‘slug’ of gold at Kurnalpi.
b. Pottery. (See quot.)
1880Janvier Pract. Keramics xii. 132 The coarser sorts [of stoneware] are..piled up, only separated by ‘slugs’—rolls or pieces of sandy clay.
c. Electr. A metal cylinder fitted round the end of the core of an electromagnetic relay to modify the speeds of opening and closing. Cf. sleeve n. 7 c.
1928Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers LXVI. 346/1 A thick copper cylinder—or ‘slug’—placed over part of the core, or a thin cylinder—or ‘sleeve’—placed over the whole of the core, will provide a closed path of very low resistance in which currents of considerable magnitude may flow. 1943A. L. Albert Fund. Telephony ix. 199 The amount of time delay can be regulated by the size and location of the copper slug. 1969M. L. Gayford Mod. Relay Techniques iii. 60 A slug at the armature end slows down both operation and release. A slug at the rear or heel end has little effect on the operate time but produces suitable delay on release.
d. Nuclear Engin. A rod or bar of nuclear fuel.
1945H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes vii. 69 The uranium would react chemically with the water,..probably to the point of disintegrating the uranium slugs. 1952[see plutonium 2 b]. a1958K. Edwards in ‘E. Crispin’ Best SF 3 (1958) 34 The uranium slugs were short and the aluminium cans that held them in the centre of the pile..were long. 1967J. T. Long Engin. Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing xi. 838 The slugs were cooled by natural convection of water in a finned tank. 1973Trans. Amer. Nuclear Soc. XVII. 508/2 A charge of fuel particles, a preformed matrix slug, and a top punch are inserted.
e. Electr. An adjustable magnetic core used to vary the inductance of a coil containing it. Chiefly in slug tuning (so slug-tuned adj.).
1957Practical Wireless XXXIII. 566/1 Now adjust trimmers or slugs of discriminator transformer to obtain a symmetrical pattern. 1959R. L. Shrader Electronic Communication xiv. 390 A few receiver RF amplifiers..use slug tuning, having a mechanical means of pulling the slug into the desired position in the coil by a dial on the front of the equipment. 1960Practical Wireless XXXVI. 416/2 Coil L2 is also heavily damped and variable tuning is hardly worthwhile; it is accordingly slug⁓tuned to the centre of the three transmissions to be received. 1979A. A. Liff Color & Black & White Television Theory & Servicing iv. 108 The individually tuned circuits in the oscillator section are all slug tuned.
4. a. A hatter's or tailor's heating-iron.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade.
b. Printing. A metal bar used as a division (see earlier quots.), or one produced by a Linotype machine for printing from. Orig. U.S.
Hence slug-machine, a Linotype machine.
1871Ringwalt Amer. Encycl. Printing 416 Slugs.—Pieces of metal of various lengths and thicknesses, but always thicker than leads, which they resemble in other respects. 1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2217/2 Slugs are used to fill out a short page or between display lines. 1888Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 127 Slugs, numbered divisions of metal between different takes of copy. 1896Linotype Co.'s Specimen Bk., The Linotype produces and assembles, side by side, metal bars or slugs.
c. U.S. A heavy gold piece privately coined in California in 1849, subsequently prohibited.
1851Oregon Statesman 23 Sept. 2/6 He accordingly ‘pungled down’ two of Moffat's $50 slugs, and of course, cut the black, there being no red spots in the pack. 1872S. Powers Afoot & Alone 303 A shining ‘slug’, fresh from the San Francisco mint, [was] laid scrupulously in the place. 1890San Francisco Bulletin 10 May (Cent.), An interesting reminder of early days in California, in the shape of a round fifty-dollar slug. 1892Blackw. Mag. Apr. 554 A small hillock of gold in 10 and 50 dollar slugs.
d. A thick boot-rivet or sprig.
1892[see slugger3].
e. U.S. slang. A dollar; a counterfeit coin; a token.
1887Lantern (New Orleans) 4 June 5/2 She'd sooner put up her ten slugs and go back to the pipe. 1913Dialect Notes IV. 28 Slug,..round piece of metal for slot machines. 1934J. T. Farrell Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan xvii. 259 He bought a slug from the cashier in the Chain drugstore at Prairie and walked back to the telephone booths.
f. Journalism. = slug-line, sense 7 below.
1925G. M. Hyde Newspaper Editing (ed. 2) ii. 89 Use expressions that will not offend readers..if the slugs slip into print... ‘Kill widow’..may be misunderstood. 1927Amer. Speech II. 240/2 ‘Slug’..is a brief title..placed above a story for the guidance of the copy-reader and the printer. 1949T. F. Barnhart Weekly Newspaper Writing & Editing xxii. 224/2 In many newspaper plants some other term is substituted for guidelines, such as catch⁓lines, slugs and slug-lines. 1979‘A. Hailey’ Overload iv. vii. 324 The newspaper put a copyright slug over her story.
5. The core of an ox-horn (cf. slough n.5); a stunted horn.
1842S. C. Hall Ireland II. 395 The slug or core on which the horn is moulded. 1878Sir B. T. B. Gibbs in Rep. Paris Exhib. II. 347 There shall be no horns, slugs, abortive horns. Ibid., Occasionally some have small ‘slugs’ or stumps which are not affixed to the skull.
6. Engin. A unit of mass equal to 32·1740 lb., being the mass of a body which accelerates at one foot per second per second when acted on by one pound force.
1902A. M. Worthington Dynamics of Rotation (ed.4) p. viii, I have ventured to give the name of a ‘slug’ to the British Engineer's Unit of Mass, i.e., to the mass in which an acceleration of one foot-per-sec.-per-sec. is produced by a force of one pound. 1923A. R. Low in W. L. Marsh Rep. Internat. Air Congr. 62 The ‘slug’ of 32·2 pounds avoirdupois mass, which has actually been imposed on British aeronautics by the Advisory Committee. 1936F. W. Lanchester Theory of Dimensions & its Application for Engineers v. 37 Even amongst the advocates of Perry's system.., the slug has never taken shape except on paper; it has, and has had no real material existence. 1944N. A. V. Piercy Compl. Course Elem. Aerodynamics iv. 86 At 15° C. and 760 mm. pressure, ρ [sc. the density of air]..= 0· 00238 slug per cubic foot. 1973Nature 20 July 184/3 The statement that the unit of mass in the British system is the slug is several years out of date.
7. attrib. and Comb., as slug-bullet, slug-cartridge, slug-gun, slug-shot; slug-loaded adj.; slug-line Journalism, an identifying title, usu. occupying one slug, accompanying a news story in draft and galleys; slug-setting Printing, the method of setting an entire line of type on a single slug; so slug-set a.
1665Pepys Diary 4 Feb., This message he sent in a *slugg-bullett, being writ in cypher, and wrapped up in lead.
1901H. Seebohm Birds of Siberia xxi. 222, I put a *slug-cartridge into my gun.
1940Illustr. London News CXCVI. 53 (caption) Their training includes the use of tear-gas, while they are armed with ‘*slug-guns’, ·303 rifles and staves. 1973M. Amis Rachel Papers 218 The youth, handsomely reading Tennyson on summer evenings, or trying to kill birds with feeble, rusted slug-guns.
1930K. E. Olson Typogr. & Mechanics of Newspaper xi. 360 Sometimes the printer forgets to remove the *slugline when he places a story in its column, and this would appear above the story unless caught in the final check. 1976J. McClure Rogue Eagle ii. 27 He tapped out the name of his freelance agency and the slug-line.
1873Routledge's Young Gentlem. Mag. May 355 To make use of the *slug-loaded pistols first.
1963*Slug-setting [see filmset v.]. 1970Times Lit. Suppl. 9 Apr. 387/2 It is an instance of their attention to quality that even novels are ‘Monotype’ set, whereas most publishers use slug-setting. 1975J. Butcher Copy-Editing ii. 7 Slugsetting is unsuitable for complex tables, though Monotype may be used for tables in a slugset book.
1873Routledge's Young Gentlem. Mag. May 356 The *slug-shot had entered his arm.
Senses 6–7 in Dict. become 7–8. Add: 6. gen. A thick piece or lump of some material; also, a portion or amount, esp. a large one.
18672nd Ann. Rep. Missouri State Board Agric. 1866 16 They suffer severely with inward fever... Our remedy is to drench them with lard, or slugs of fat bacon. 1929Amer. Speech V. 75 A large amount is a ‘slew’ or ‘slug’. 1977Economist 21 May 116/2 They might be liable either to another slug of capital gains tax or more likely..income tax. 1983G. Benford Against Infinity i. iii. 24 Old Matt shrugged, his face wrinkling into a fine-threaded map as he chewed on a hemp slug.
▪ III. slug, n.3 north. and U.S.|slʌg|
[f. slug v.3]
1. A heavy or hard blow; a beating.
1830T. Wilson Pitman's Pay iii. xxxvii, We'll spend wor hin'most plack, Te gi'e them iv'ry yen a slug. 1891in Cent. Dict. 1894Heslop Northumbld. Gloss. 659 A slug or a sluggin is a dire beating.
2. attrib. and Comb., as slug-fest [fest] U.S. slang, a hard-hitting contest, spec. in boxing and baseball; slug-nutty a. (U.S. slang), punch-drunk; hence slug-nuttiness.
1916Nebraska State Jrnl. 27 July 3/1 (heading) Denver wins in slugfest. 1933G. Tunney Man must Fight 14 If Dempsey would gamble with me in a slug-fest I would beat him to the punch every time. 1943Amer. Speech XVIII. 105 A good inning at bat..is a..slug-fest. 1969Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 21 Mar. 1/4 A meeting between Canadian MPs and a high French government official turned into a verbal slugfest as the Canadians raked the Gaullist government for its policies towards Quebec and Ottawa. 1976M. Machlin Pipeline x. 116 For a while it looked as though there was going to be a real slugfest. 1979Arizona Daily Star 1 Apr. b5/4 ‘Back to Basics’ is today's biggest educational debate topic. But so far, it has generated a mostly muddled, emotional slugfest. Ibid. 8 Apr. c1/2 Powers gave up four runs on seven hits, a contrast from the 33-hit slugfest of Friday night.
1943Gen 16 Jan. 30/1 Though no medical man, I know enough about slug-nuttiness to tell you..how it comes about.
1933‘P. Cain’ Fast One vi. 196 He shook his head sadly without looking up. ‘Slug-nutty.’ 1936J. Steinbeck In Dubious Battle ii. 16 Don't mind Joy. He's slug-nutty. He's been smacked over the head too much. 1950E. Hemingway Across River & into Trees iv. 26 He's been beat up so much he's slug-nutty.
▪ IV. † slug, a. Obs.
[Cf. slug n.1 and v.1]
1. Slow, sluggish, inactive.
c1440Promp. Parv. 460/1 Slugge, deses, segnis. 1589A. Fleming Virg. Georg. 1 Thou Tityr slug in shade Dost teach the woods to sound so shrill. 1626Shirley Brothers v. iii, Carlos. Will none deliver me? Lu. They are somewhat slug. 1635Quarles Embl. i. xiii, Lord, when we leave the world and come to thee, How dull, how slug we are.
2. Of vessels: Slow-sailing.
c1626Dick of Devon v. i. in Bullen Old Pl. II. 86 Slug shipps can keepe no pace. 1666Lond. Gaz. No. 59/1 The St. Paul, and two other Slug Ships, that seemed unserviceable.
▪ V. slug, v.1 Now somewhat rare.|slʌg|
Also 4 sluggyn, 6 slogge, sloug, 6–7 slugg(e.
[Perh. of Scand. origin: cf. Sw. dial. slogga to be slow or sluggish, and the Norw. forms cited under slug n.1 Earlier evidence for the occurrence of the stem in English appears in forslug v. (c 1315) and sluggy a. (a 1225).]
1. intr. To be lazy, slow, or inert; to lie idly or lazily. Also with it.
c1425St. Mary of Oignies ii. v. in Anglia VIII. 166/21 She..slugged neuer wiþ slouþe; she defayled in trauayle neuere or seldom. c1440Promp. Parv. 460/2 Sluggyn, desidio, torpeo, pigritor. 1530Palsgr. 722/1 Whye slogge you nowe more than you have be wont to do? c1560Ingelend Disobedient Child (Percy Soc.) 50, I would most commonly slugge in my bed, Untyll it were verye farre forth daye. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. vii. 340 The Souldier, slugging long at home in Peace, His wonted courage quickly doth decrease. 1625Bp. Sanderson Serm. I. 129 Men account him no wiser than he should be, that sluggeth in his own business, or goeth heartlesly about it. a1677Barrow Serm. (1686) III. xxii. 256 When he mispendeth an hour, or sluggeth on his bed. 1702C. Mather Magn. Christi iii. ii. iii. (1852) 374 He complained, ‘I lie slugging a bed, when others are at work’. 1869Fortn. Rev. Feb. 157 How often do I slug in bed on the long bright summer mornings.
b. fig. or in fig. context.
1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Jas. 31 Of like sorte doubtles shall the profession of faith..bee vnauayleable, but lyeth slugging like as it were deade. 1567–9Jewel Def. Apol. (1611) 557 If they, whiles the Pope and his Prelats slug and sleep,..do bridle the Priests sensuality. 1607J. Carpenter Pl. Mans Plough 207 These ungodly..slug on the waves of this world, slumber as in the darke night. a1646J. Burroughs Exp. Hosea ix. (1652) 312 The Lord offereth deliverance and we lie slugging on our beds.
c. To withdraw through laziness. rare—1.
1642Rogers Naaman 45 The Lord..suffered him not to slug out of the worke, till he had finished it.
2. To move slowly; to loiter or delay.
1565T. Stapleton Fortr. Faith 84 Their destruction sluggeth not. 1646W. Price Man's Delinquencie 14 Like a Bowle, he began to slugge toward the end of the Alley. 1692L'Estrange Fables (1694) 362 There were two men together on a journey. One of them went slugging on... T'other jogg'd merrily away. 1812Tennant Anster Fair ii. xlii, Others..ride, Slugging on their slow-gaited asses stout.
3. trans. To pass (time) in inactivity or idleness. Also with out.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 177 Wherfore losyng no tyme nor sluggyng one houre he sayled from Deuelyne to Chester. 1621R. Bolton Statutes Irel. 313 Who losing no time, nor slugging one houre, hath so actually followed the warre that [etc.]. 1888Doughty Arabia Deserta I. 224 How may your lubbers slug out these long days till evening?
4. To relax or slacken; to make inert or sluggish.
1600Holland Livy xxxvii. xli. 968 Moreouer, the dropping weather slugged their bowes, softned their slings. 1641Milton Reform. 4 It is still episcopacy that..worsens and slugs the most learned and seeming religious of our ministers. 1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. iv. §18. 321 Contending..that it..would weaken and enervate Mans natural Faculties, by slugging them.
5. To hinder, retard, delay.
1605Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. vii. §7 They are..but Remoraes and hindrances to stay and slugge the Shippe from furder sayling. 1650Trapp Comm. Num. xiv. 24 When a bowl runs down-hill, every rub quickens it; whereas if up-hill, it would slug it. 1665Hooke Microgr. 69 Several of these Rays..will be slugged or stopped by the tinging particles. 1876Robinson Whitby Gloss. 176/2 Slug, to hinder; to retard progress.
▪ VI. slug, v.2|slʌg|
[f. slug n.2]
1. trans. To load (a gun) with slugs.
1831Examiner 273/2 They would scarcely applaud..Tyburn Jack for slugging the blunderbuss up to its expansive muzzle. 1864in Webster.
2. trans. and intr. Of a bullet: (see quot.).
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2217/2 The bullet, when forced to assume the sectional shape of the bore in the act of firing, is said to slug or to be slugged.
3. Journalism. trans. To mark with a slug-line; with compl.: to give as a slug-line or other heading.
1925G. M. Hyde Newspaper Editing (ed. 2) ii. 27 What the copywriter does..may be summarized... ‘Slugs’ story for record and make-up. 1928Amer. Speech IV. 135 The hardened deskman merely grins, squeezes the gist of a column story into ten words and ‘slugs’ the article to designate the ‘head’ that is to accompany it. 1940N. MacNeil Without Fear or Favor v. 74 The foreign editor..may slug his stories by correspondent. 1953B. Westley News Editing xii. 197 When they moved a story about the possible use of bacteriological warfare.., the United Press slugged it: ‘Germs’. 1974J. Banning How I fooled World xix. 77 The [news] story, slugged ‘Television’, ran something like this. 1976Daily Tel. 13 Oct. 6/7 Members of the National Union of Journalists..called..for all relevant copy to be marked, or ‘slugged’, ‘Not for Preston’. Ibid., There was a previous precedent for slugging copy in an outside dispute.
Sense 3 in Dict. becomes 4. Add: 3. To drink deep draughts or slugs (of); to swig. slang. a. intr. Also const. up. rare.
1856Porter's Spirit of Times 6 Sept. 7/1 Let's slug up and prepare for business. 1973M. Amis Rachel Papers 30 Dozy afternoons slugging on opiate cough mixtures.
b. trans. Also const. down. Chiefly N. Amer.
1979Washington Post 31 Aug. d3/1 At change games, players wearily slumped into their chairs and slugged water, soft drinks or Gatorade as if trying to extinguish fires in their bellies. 1980in S. Terkel Amer. Dreams 237, I used to give him shaves, a couple, three times a week. And slug beer with him. 1986Glaswegian Dec. 5/3 We slugged ‘ginger’ and maybe Tizer in a cup. 1989Chicago Tribune 20 Apr. 7/3 In the car, slugging down beer and raucously celebrating their graduation night..are two terminally troubled teenagers.
▪ VII. slug, v.3 Chiefly north. and U.S.|slʌg|
[Cf. slog v.]
1. a. trans. To strike (also, to drive, throw, etc.) heavily or violently; to slog.
1862in Robinson Dial. Leeds 413. 1869 Echo 8 Mar., He has several times been told by unionists on strike that he would be ‘slugged’ if he went on as he was going. 1883The Bread-Winners (1884) 213 ‘Who's afraid of half-a-dozen cops?’ said a burly ruffian, who carried a slung⁓shot... ‘We'll slug 'em this time!’ 1890Gunter Miss Nobody i. (1891) 11 They mean..to slug him, crush the wind out of his body, and leave him battered and bruised.
b. fig. To treat roughly; to drug; to exploit; to overcharge; to force out of; to churn out.
1925A. S. M. Hutchinson One Increasing Purpose i. xviii. 112, I know..that really you were court-martialled and hoofed out... But what the facts were, why you were slugged, how they found out your hideous goings-on, I never could discover. 1938J. Steinbeck Long Valley 116, I guess the doctor slugged me pretty hard... I feel all right now, only a little dopey. 1941S. J. Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 68 Get slugged, to be charged excessively. 1946K. S. Prichard Roaring Nineties 326 Alf knew the mine-owners were slugging the prospectors and alluvial diggers. 1962‘K. Orvis’ Damned & Destroyed vi. 46 She had..slugged herself insensible with a terrific overdose of heroin. 1974P. de Vries Glory of Hummingbird ii. 14 The thankless task of slugging contributions out of the congregation. 1976Australasian Express 11 June 26/2 Canberra: Big cars will be slugged for extra insurance if a report to the Government is adopted. 1977New Yorker 19 Sept. 96/2 I've been slugging out so many notes of American music I'm turning into a piece of apple pie.
c. to slug it out: to fight it out; to stick it out.
1943Time 10 May 98/3 Twice it screens exciting action: once when the sub slugs it out with a disguised German raider. 1952M. Lowry Let. 11 Jan. (1967) 286 Somehow we slugged it out, without having to abandon the house. 1970Listener 23 July 127/3 It decided not to slug it out directly with News at Ten. 1973Black World Mar. 58, I saw the two shadows boxing on the side of the brick building... It was Bernie and Bennie Speakes, twins about 10, slugging it out in the alley. 1978Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. 14c/1 They'll slug it out, week by week, blow by blow, for all the world to see.
2. intr. To slog. Also with along, away.
1943Fortune Feb. 122/1 Guns slugging at close range. 1943Newsweek 9 Aug. 27/1 This found them..still slugging along at a point between the coastal villages of Tetere and Zovi. 1944Reader's Digest Nov. 62/1 But always he was slugging away at novel writing on the side. 1959Times 9 Mar. 3/1 In the second [half], largely an affair of forwards slugging away with barely diminished vigour, the Navy's packing became untidy.
▪ VIII. slug, v.4|slʌg|
[f. slug n.1 4.]
intr. To hunt for slugs.
1887Baring-Gould Golden Feather iv, She went with him to see the garden and help to ‘slug’. |