pug
/pʌɡ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.11 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
noun
noun
noun
Example Sentences
- "She […] tells Fibs, makes Miſchief, buys China, cheats at Cards, keeps a Pug-dog, and hates the Parſons; […]"
- "Meanwhile she arranged her ornaments in the room which she had won too easily. They were strange ornaments to bring on a sea-voyage—china pugs, tea-sets in miniature, […]"
- "Dear, delicate Madam, I am your little Paraquit, your Sparrovv, your Shock, your Pugg, your Squirrel."
- "Squirrels / Are not uncommon in the plantings on the broad edges, where they may be seen feeding on the deal-apples, as the Broadsmen call the fir-cones; nuts and acorns too they are fond of. […] Stoats sometimes chase them, but "pug" generally manages to escape, an[d] he can get to a tree first—he is a much more daring jumper."
- "It is to be observed in this experiment, […] that the loss of weight by feeding (tegs or pugs) on turnips, is remarkable: […]"
- "[…] I heard her call him dear pug, and found him to be her favourite monkey."
Etymology
Origin unknown, possibly related to West Flemish pugge (“(adjective) small; (noun) short person; pet name derived from the first name Pugge”); though it is uncertain whether sense 1 (“senses relating to someone or something small”) and sense 2 (“senses relating to people”) are derived from the same source. Etymology 1 sense 1.8 (“small demon”) was probably influenced by, though not a variant of, puck.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /pʌɡ/
- British English: /pʌɡ/
Usage
- British usage
- Archaic
- Obsolete
- American usage
- Indian usage
- Transitive verb
- Informal
- Australian usage
Inflected Forms
pugs (plural)
pugs (present, singular)
pugging (participle, present)
pugged (participle, past)
pugged (past)
PuGing (participle, present)
PuGed (participle, past)
PuGed (past)
Derived Forms
Phrases
Braun's pughead pipefish
Chinese pug
dentated pug
false pug moth
lawyer pug
pug-faced roughy
pug-headed mudskipper
pug-nosed