mug

plural mugs

1. A large cup for beverages, usually having a handle and used without a saucer.
2. derogatoryoftenslangThe face.

   Well, he finally showed his mug. Beau, that is. Came wandering in yesterday nite.

   1973 January 30, Lou Sullivan, Diary

   2 more examples

   […] 'let him go, I tell you, or I'll be after breaking your ugly mug,' and with that I gave him a dig that knocked him into smithereens.

   1836, The Court Magazine and Belle Assemblée, volume 7, page 167

   When did ever a gentleman o’ fortune show his stern to that much dollars for a boosy old seaman with a blue mug — and him dead too?

   1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island

   Synonyms: mush, dial, phiz

3. derogatoryoftenslangThe mouth.

   Shut your mug!

4. derogatoryslangA gullible or easily cheated person.

   He's a gullible mug – he believed her again.

   Synonyms: chump, chumpion, cousin, cull, cully, dupe, dotterel, easy mark

5. AustraliaHong KongIrelandNew ZealandSingaporeUKderogatoryslangA stupid or contemptible person.
6. slangA criminal.
7. slangA mug shot.

   1 more example

   Perhaps if I told you that there were forty arrests made in one day here, you will realize that with this small equipment available in the Sheriff's Office, it is very difficult to get mugs. These people are being mugged as they are being arrested but with an entirely inadequate force at work prints have not as yet been made.

   1940, United States. Congress Senate, Hearings (volume 13, page 27252)

present singular third person mugs · participle present mugging · participle past mugged · past mugged

1. IrelandUKobsoletetransitiveTo strike in the face.

   1857, "The Leary Man", in Anglicus Ducange, The Vulgar Tongue And if you come to fibbery, You must Mug one or two,

   2 more examples

   Madgbury showed game, drove Abbot in a corner, but got well Mugg'd.

   1821, The Fancy, i. p.261

   "Suppose they had Mugged you?" / "Done what to me?" / "Mugged you. Slogged you, you know."

   1866 May 5, London Miscellany, page 102

2. transitiveTo assault for the purpose of robbery.
3. intransitiveTo exaggerate a facial expression for communicative emphasis; to make a face, to pose, as for photographs or in a performance, in an exaggerated or affected manner.

   The children weren't interested in sitting still for a serious photo; they mugged for the camera.

   2 more examples

   Her dress is too obviously "costume," and Ford-Smith mugs too broadly for us to forget, as we should, that Katie is a theatrical invention.

   1989 May 6, Mara Math, “Boston's Women in Theatre Extravaganza”, in Gay Community News, page 6

   Taping an episode that pairs him with the veteran leading man Richard Roundtree in front of a live audience, Mr. Smith displayed a strong sense of comedic timing, mugged for the camera at will, improvised dialogue with alacrity […]

   1990 September 17, Larry Rohter, “‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ Puts Rap in Mainstream”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

4. transitiveTo photograph for identification; to take a mug shot of.

   The Bat—they called him the Bat.[…]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.

   1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 01

   1 more example

   Perhaps if I told you that there were forty arrests made in one day here, you will realize that with this small equipment available in the Sheriff's Office, it is very difficult to get mugs. These people are being mugged as they are being arrested but with an entirely inadequate force at work prints have not as yet been made.

   1940, United States. Congress Senate, Hearings (volume 13, page 27252)

5. AustraliaHong KongIndiaIrelandNew ZealandSingaporeUKslangTo learn or review a subject as much as possible in a short time; cram.

comparative mugger · superlative muggest

1. slangBermudaUninteresting or unpleasant.

   So... complaining about Bermuda being boring/mug on a constant does what exactly?

   2020 February 4, @makim_ori, Twitter, archived from the original on 07 Jul 2023

   1 more example

   But anyways, I stayed back a second year and my papa was visiting when momma was opening de report card. Papa gave me de muggest moment in my life like.

   2013 April 12, “Exclusive: Meet Derpuntae - Bermuda's first meme”, in The Bermuda Sun, archived from the original on 12 Dec 2022

plural mugs

1. slangAfrican-American VernacularMotherfucker (usually in similes, e.g. "like a mug" or "as a mug")

plural Mugs

1. alternativeAlternative form of Magh.

1. USabbreviationgovernmentAbbreviation of Marxist Unity Group