chug

plural chugs

1. A dull, fairly quick explosive or percussive sound, as if made by a labouring engine.
2. A large gulp of drink.

   He drank his beer in three chugs.

3. A homemade Cuban boat, built to carry emigrants to the USA, and often abandoned upon arrival.
4. derogatoryethnicslurA person of Native American descent.
5. chiefly metalentertainmentA palm muted note on a distorted electric guitar.

present singular third person chugs · participle present chugging · participle past chugged · past chugged

1. intransitiveTo make dull explosive sounds.
2. intransitiveTo move or travel whilst making such sounds.

   We were chugging along a back road when the engine cut out.

   1 more example

   The inn also offers adventure packages, including ziplining and a truck safari, where a military vehicle chugs up the side of a muddy mountain.

   2008 May 6, Katie Zezima, “Can M-U-D Really Spell M-O-N-E-Y?”, in The New York Times

3. broadlyintransitiveTo move or travel at a steady, although not especially fast, pace.

   I kept chugging away on ion, adjusting my path so I'd hit perikron in the B ring with orbital velocity.

   2008 February 28, James L. Cambias, “Balancing Accounts”, in Fantasy & Science Fiction, volume 114, page 20

   4 more examples

   Outside, beyond the sun-baked station yard, a rice mill chugged away in the distance, and sweating coolies unloaded bags of rice from creaking bullock carts.

   1943 November and December, G. T. Porter, “The Lines Behind the Lines in Burma”, in Railway Magazine, page 325

   Before the year was out, the girls were out of school and the foursome's "Tell Him" was chuggin’ up the charts.

   1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 130

   As the escort carriers chug away south, their single 5-inch rear guns are now cleared to open fire as the range closes.

   2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 24:22 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2022

   For thousands of years, human progress was indexed to the ease and speed of our mobility: our capacity to walk on two legs, and then to ride on animals, sail on boats, chug across the land and fly through the air, all to procure for ourselves the food and materials we wanted.

   2019 November 21, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian

4. colloquialtransitiveTo drink a large amount (especially of beer) in a single action/without breathing; to chugalug. Usually chanted at the person who is drinking.

   Chug! Chug! Chug!

   1 more example

   I can't believe he chugged three beers.

5. intransitivevideo gamesTo function or perform with difficulty, typically due to inadequate resources or performance limitations.

   My game chugs every time too many NPCs are onscreen.

plural chugs

1. A dog that is a cross between a pug and a chihuahua.

present singular third person chugs · participle present chugging · participle past chugged · past chugged

1. UKderogatoryslangtransitiveTo solicit charitable donations on the street, particularly in a persistent manner.

   I got chugged in the town centre today.