plug

1606; from Dutch plug, from Middle Dutch plugge (“peg, plug”), from Old Dutch *pluggi. Origin unknown. Possibly from Proto-Germanic *plugjaz, but the word seems originally restricted to northern continental West Germanic: compare German Low German Plüg, Norwegian plug (“peg, wedge”, probably borrowed from Middle Low German), German Pflock (“peg”, restricted to Central German and phonetically divergent). Possibly akin to Lithuanian plúkti (“to strike, hew”).

• enPR: plŭg, IPA^(key): /plʌɡ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌɡ

An electrical plug

Some fishing plugs

plug (plural plugs)

1. (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.

2. Any piece of wood, metal, or other substance used to stop or fill a hole.

   Synonyms: bung, dowel, stopper, stopple

   Pull the plug out of the tub so it can drain.

3. (US) A flat oblong cake of pressed tobacco.

   He preferred a plug of tobacco to loose chaw.

4. (US, slang) A high, tapering silk hat.
5. (US, slang) A worthless horse.

   Synonyms: bum (racing), dobbin, hack, jade, nag

   That sorry old plug is ready for the glue factory!

6. (dated) Any worn-out or useless article.
7. (construction) A block of wood let into a wall to afford a hold for nails.
8. (slang) 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.

9. (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.

10. (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.

11. (horticulture) A small seedling grown in a tray from expanded polystyrene or polythene filled usually with a peat or compost substrate.
12. (jewellery) A short cylindrical piece of jewellery commonly worn in larger-gauge body piercings, especially in the ear.
13. (slang) A drug dealer.
    • 2017, Gucci Mane, ‎Neil Martinez-Belkin, The Autobiography of Gucci Mane (page 32)

      He saw me catch a trap and leave the house of a drug dealer. That's why he targeted me. He could have easily blown my ass off right then and there for lying, but for some reason he didn't. He just left. I biked back to my plug's spot and told him […]

14. A branch from a water-pipe to supply a hose.

• → Burmese: ပလတ် (pa.lat)

plug (third-person singular simple present plugs, present participle plugging, simple past and past participle plugged)

1. (transitive) To stop with a plug; to make tight by stopping a hole.

   He attempted to plug the leaks with some caulk.

2. (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.

   • 2019 January 26, Kitty Empire, “The Streets review – the agony and ecstasy of a great everyman”, in The Guardian‎:

     He treats the gig as an opportunity repeatedly to plug the after-party, where he will be DJing.

3. (intransitive, informal) To persist or continue with something.

   Keep plugging at the problem until you find a solution.

4. (transitive) To shoot a bullet into something with a gun.
   • 1884, H. Rider Haggard, The Witch's Head

     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...

5. (slang, transitive) To have sex with, penetrate sexually.

   I'd love to plug him.

• gulp

From a Slavic language, compare Proto-Slavic *plugъ, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, *plōguz (“plough”). Ousted parmendë in most dialects.

plug m (indefinite plural plugje, definite singular plugu, definite plural plugjet)

1. steel plough

• parmendë

• plugoj

• plugu

From a Slavic language, compare Proto-Slavic *plugъ, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, *plōguz (“plough”). Compare also Daco-Romanian plug.

plug n (plural pluguri)

1. plough

   Synonyms: aratru, aletrã, dãmãljiugu, paramendã

From early modern plugge, from Middle Dutch *plugge, from Old Dutch *pluggi, from Proto-Germanic *plugjaz. Despite being attested only very late, it has certain cognates in several other Germanic languages, including Middle Low German plugge, Middle High German plugge, Swedish plugg.

• IPA^(key): /plʏx/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: plug
• Rhymes: -ʏx

plug m (plural pluggen, diminutive plugje n)

1. wall plug (used to hold nails and screws)

• oorplug

From English plug.

• IPA^(key): /plœɡ/

plug m (plural plugs)

1. butt-plug

From a Slavic language, compare Proto-Slavic *plugъ, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, *plōguz (“plough”).

plug n (plural plugur, definite singular plugu, definite plural plugurle)

1. plough

From a Slavic language, compare Proto-Slavic *plugъ, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, *plōguz (“plough”).

• IPA^(key): [pluɡ]

plug n (plural pluguri)

1. plough

From Proto-Slavic *plugъ, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, *plōguz (“plough”).

• IPA^(key): /plûɡ/

plȕg m (Cyrillic spelling плу̏г)

1. plough

From Proto-Slavic *plugъ, borrowed from Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, *plōguz (“plough”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈplúːk/, /ˈplúk/
• Tonal orthography: plȗg, plȕg

plúg or plùg m inan (genitive plúga, nominative plural plúgi)

1. plough (device pulled through the ground in order to break it upon into furrows for planting)