From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishslugslug1 /slʌɡ/ noun [countable] 1 HBAa small creature with a soft body, that moves very slowly and eats garden plants2 American English informalPMW a bullet Perez still has a slug lodged in his left shoulder.3 informalDFDAMOUNT a small amount of a strong alcoholic drinkslug of a slug of brandy4 American English informalD a piece of metal shaped like a coin, used to illegally get a drink, ticket etc from a machine5 American English someone who gets to work by standing in a particular place until a driver stops and lets them go with them in their car
Examples from the Corpus
slug• In taking a slug at Mayer, Gilbert had knocked the stuffing out of his own career and, ultimately, his life.• She took another slug of beer and continued rubbing eye shadow from her left eyelid.• Bing could be one himself if he threw enough slugs down his gullet.• King ended up with two 9 mm slugs in his chest.• He caught nine slugs and died.• Much of the current research on biological neural networks involves the study of invertebrate animals, such as sea slugs or starfish.• A sitting tenant who came with the greenhouses ... and is doing his bit to keep down the slugs.• Across the earth between rows shone dry silver trails, sticky to sight, where the slugs had been.slugslug2 verb (slugged, slugging) [transitive] 1 → slug it out2 informalHIT to hit someone hard with your closed hand SYN punch3 HITto hit a ball hard4 (also slug back) to drink an alcoholic drink, especially by swallowing large amounts at the same time→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
slug• The two men rolled around on the floor slugging each other and yelping and growling.• They decided to go outside and slug it out but Swanson stopped them, saying they would draw too much attention.• They hardly looked ready to slug it out in a Test series, but at least they had a victory under their belts.• They lose a night's sleep slugging it out.• I took a walk round there myself about that time, and Vecchi slugged me.• Jimmy slugged Paul in the stomach and pushed him to the ground.• Isaac, horrified, ducked behind the ornamental wall and slugged Saconi in the thigh.• First Winters slugged the playwright, then she burst into tears and embraced him.Origin slug1 (1400-1500) Probably from a Scandinavian language slug2 (1800-1900) Probably from SLOG1 