1. [n]  a sudden abrupt pull
2. [n]  a powerful small boat designed to pull or push larger ships
3. [v]  struggle in opposition; "She tugged and wrestled with her conflicts"
4. [v]  pull hard; "The prisoner tugged at the chains"; "This movie tugs at the heart strings"
5. [v]  pull or strain hard at; "Each oar was tugged by several men"
6. [v]  move by pulling hard; "The horse finally tugged the cart out of the mud"
7. [v]  exert oneself, make an effort to reach a goal; "She tugged for years to make a decent living"; "We have to push a little to make the deadline!"; "She is driving away at her doctoral thesis"
8. [v]  carry with difficulty; "You'll have to lug this suitcase"
9. [v]  tow (a vessel) with a tug; "The tugboat tugged the freighter into the harbor"

Tug
A collection of poems that celebrates family, love, and the author's cultural heroes

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1. \Tug\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Tugged}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Tugging}.] [OE. toggen; akin to OD. tocken to entice, G.
   zucken to jerk, draw, Icel. toga to draw, AS. t['e]on, p. p.
   togen, to draw, G. ziehen, OHG. ziohan, Goth. tiuhan, L.
   ducere to lead, draw. Cf. {Duke}, {Team}, {Tie}, v. t.,
   {Touch}, {Tow}, v. t., {Tuck} to press in, {Toy} a
   plaything.]
   1. To pull or draw with great effort; to draw along with
      continued exertion; to haul along; to tow; as, to tug a
      loaded cart; to tug a ship into port.
            There sweat, there strain, tug the laborious oar.
                                                  --Roscommon.
   2. To pull; to pluck. [Obs.]
            To ease the pain, His tugged cars suffered with a
            strain.                               --Hudibras.
   

2. \Tug\, v. i.
   1. To pull with great effort; to strain in labor; as, to tug
      at the oar; to tug against the stream.
            He tugged, he shook, till down they came. --Milton.
   2. To labor; to strive; to struggle.
            England now is left To tug and scamble and to part
            by the teeth The unowed interest of proud-swelling
            state.                                --Shak.
   

3. \Tug\, n.
   1. A pull with the utmost effort, as in the athletic contest
      called tug of war; a supreme effort.
            At the tug he falls, Vast ruins come along, rent
            from the smoking walls.               --Dryden.
   2. A sort of vehicle, used for conveying timber and heavy
      articles. [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell.
   3. (Naut.) A small, powerful steamboat used to tow vessels;
      -- called also {steam tug}, {tugboat}, and {towboat}.
   4. A trace, or drawing strap, of a harness.
   5. (Mining.) An iron hook of a hoisting tub, to which a
      tackle is affixed.
   {Tug iron}, an iron hook or button to which a tug or trace
      may be attached, as on the shaft of a wagon.