From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishchugchug /tʃʌɡ/ verb (chugged, chugging) 1 MOVE/CHANGE POSITION[intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if a car, train etc chugs somewhere, it moves there slowly, with the engine making a repeated low soundchug along/up/around etc The boat chugged out of the harbour.2 [transitive] (also chug-a-lug) American English informal to drink all of something in a glass or bottle without stopping3 [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to make slow but steady progress The economy just keeps chugging along. —chug noun [countable usually singular]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
chug• Up from the river chugs a little blue train.• Stocks chugged along most of the day Monday with no great gains or losses.• The car was chugging along the Promenade des Anglais, a boulevard lined with splendid palm-trees.• Some things must be done before others, and this limits how much faster a multiprocessor computer can chug along.• Only some sailors in blue jerseys who appeared as the Shirley chugged alongside the boarding pontoon.• We were soon chugging happily along.• But it seems to have chugged into Los Angeles half-empty.• Teddy sat back in his chair, chugging mineral water.• Quickly, I chugged my beer.chug along/up/around etc• Some things must be done before others, and this limits how much faster a multiprocessor computer can chug along.• Down by the river, a train chugged along, slow and determined like all the nighttime freights.• As he chugged around the bases, Gooden fumed.• The car was chugging along the Promenade des Anglais, a boulevard lined with splendid palm-trees.• But he also assumes that the economy will keep chugging along with barely a hiccup of a recession.Origin chug (1800-1900) From the sound 