slug

plural slugs

1. Any of many gastropod mollusks, having no (or only a rudimentary) shell.First known use early 18ᵗʰ c.
2. obsoleteA slow, lazy person; a sluggard.First known use early 15ᵗʰ c.
3. A bullet or other projectile fired from a firearm; in modern usage, generally refers to a shotgun slug.First known use 1620s

   […] all our Ammunition was spent. Those of us who had Money made Slugs of it; their next Shift was to take the middle Screws out of their Guns, and charge their Pieces with them.

   1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, page 55

   1 more example

   A mass accelerator propels a solid metal slug using precisely-controlled electromagnetic attraction and repulsion. The slug is designed to squash or shatter on impact, increasing the energy it transfers to the target. If this were not the case, it would simply punch a hole right through, doing minimal damage.

   2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Mass Accelerators Codex entry

4. A solid block or piece of roughly shaped metal.
5. A counterfeit coin, especially one used to steal from vending machines.First known use 1880s
6. A shot of a drink, usually alcoholic.First known use 1750s
7. journalismA title, name or header, a catchline, a short phrase or title to indicate the content of a newspaper or magazine story for editing use.First known use 1920s
8. rarenatural sciencesThe imperial (English) unit of mass that accelerates by 1 foot per second squared (1 ft/s²) when a force of one pound-force (lbf) is exerted on it.

   The average slug has a mass of around 0.00002 slugs.

   1 more example

   The slug is defined as the mass which would accelerate at a rate of 1 ft/s² under a force of one pound-force (lbf). Since 1 lbf is the force exerted on a mass of one pound by a standard gravitational field (of exactly 9.80665 meters per square second), a slug is thus exactly equal to 196133/6096 pounds (about 32.1740485564 lb or 14.593902937206 kg).

   2000 October 9, Gérard P. Michon, “What is a slug, in the [engineering] weight measurement system?”, in Numericana.com

   Synonyms: geepound

9. A discrete mass of a material that moves as a unit, usually through another material.

   Another phenomenon investigated was a slug of water falling through the cloud.

   2005, Sam Mannan with Frank P. Lees, Lee's loss prevention in the process industries, page 16-115

   5 more examples

   This is perhaps best done by considering a unit cell consisting of one bubble and part of the liquid slugs on each side of it…

   1969, Graham B. Wallis, One-Dimensional Two-Phase Flow, McGraw-Hill, section 10.2, pages 282–283

   When these layers are recovered they inevitably result in a slug of sawdust which goes into the digester and tends to plug the screens in a Kamyr digester.

   1973, Pulp & Paper International, volume 15

   Then, just a few nights before August 6, Gilbert testified that a "slug of sand-rock" weighing an estimate of one to two tons fell on his continuous miner as he was taking a cut, approximately fifteen feet from where he was standing.

   1987, United States. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, United States. Board of Mine Operations Appeals, Occupational safety and health decisions

   Tvpically, enough sand is emplaced to create a slug of sand that moves along the shore causing noticeable and somewhat dramatic local changes.

   1998, Orrin H. Pilkey with Katharine L. Dixon, The Corps and the Shore, page 159

   This is also furthered by the creation of a slug of light hydrocarbons near the oil displacement front, extracted by the carbon dioxide from the oil

   1998, N. A. Krylov with A. A. Bokserman and Evgeniĭ Romanovich Stavrovskiĭ, The oil industry of the former Soviet Union, page 112

10. A motile pseudoplasmodium formed by amoebae working together.
11. rail transportAn accessory to a diesel-electric locomotive, used to increase adhesive weight and allow full power to be applied at a lower speed. It has trucks with traction motors, but lacks a prime mover, being powered by electricity from the mother locomotive, and may or may not have a control cab.
12. broadcastingA black screen used to separate broadcast items.
13. letterpress typographyA piece of type metal imprinted by a linotype machine; also a black mark placed in the margin to indicate an error; also said in application to typewriters; type slug.
14. regionalA stranger picked up as a passenger to enable legal use of high occupancy vehicle lanes.
15. USslangDistrict of ColumbiaA hitchhiking commuter.
16. web developmentThe last part of a clean URL, the displayed resource name, similar to a filename.

    Slugs are better than just appending the document ID to the URL, as they are readable and understandable by visitors. They are also an important part of a good SEO. So that we can use slugs, every slug has to be unique.

    2016, Fabian Vogelsteller, Isaac Strack, Marcelo Reyna, Meteor: Full-Stack Web Application Development, Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 71

17. obsoleteA hindrance, an obstruction.

    money would be stirring, if it were not for this slug

    1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Usury”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC

18. A ship that sails slowly.

    His rendezvous for his fleet, and for all sluggs to come to, should be between Calais and Dover.

    1666, Samuel Pepys, Diary entry 17 October 1666

19. A block of text at the beginning of a scene that sets up the scene's location, characters, etc.
20. biologyAn infertile egg of a reptile.

present singular third person slugs · participle present slugging · participle past slugged · past slugged

1. To drink quickly; to gulp; to down.
2. To take part in casual carpooling; to form ad hoc, informal carpools for commuting, essentially a variation of ride-share commuting and hitchhiking.

   "We believe in car-pooling, but let's do it without restricting traffic. ..." Sam Snyder, 51, of Burke, who has been slugging to his job at the US Customs ....

   1998 July 23, “Ramsey Vows to Find New Sites for Commuter `Slug Lines'”, in Washington Post

   1 more example

   no sane person would attempt to commute that far every day. Sure they do. I've often slugged to Fredericksburg and back. The VRE carries hundreds of people per day, and the I-95 HOV lanes carry tens of thousands of people each day.

   2002 December 13, Joshua E. Rodd, “The Perfect Mass Transit”, in dc.urban-planning (Usenet), message-ID <FmpK9.110446$%p6.11081387@twister.neo.rr.com>

3. intransitiveTo become reduced in diameter, or changed in shape, by passing from a larger to a smaller part of the bore of the barrel.
4. intransitiveobsoleteTo move slowly or sluggishly; to lie idle.

   To slug in slouth and sensuall delights.

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 23

5. transitiveTo load with a slug or slugs.

   to slug a gun

6. To make sluggish.

   So little do we fear , you slug you

   1692, John Milton, translated by [Joseph Washington], A Defence of the People of England, […]: In Answer to Salmasius’s Defence of the King, [London?]: [s.n.], →OCLC

plural slugs

1. A hard blow, usually with the fist.First known use 1830s

present singular third person slugs · participle present slugging · participle past slugged · past slugged

1. transitiveTo hit very hard, usually with the fist.

   He insulted my mother, so I slugged him.

   3 more examples

   The fighter slugged his opponent into unconsciousness.

   The man is a mechanical genius. He also has one of the worst conduct records in the army. He likes to slug officers.

   1983, Frank Lupo, Stephen J. Cannell, “Mexican Slayride”, in The A-Team, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Zack (Ron Palillo)

   "Urgh... I know you wanted to have another day at the con, but if I had to listen to her speak anymore, I was going to do something I'd regret. Honestly, you probably should've slugged her." "Believe me. I wanted to."

   2015 August 11, Jocelyn Samara D., Rain (webcomic), Comic 713 - I'm Done

plural SLUGs

1. USinformalbusinessA special-purpose security of the State and Local Government Series.