There sweat, there strain, tug the laborious oar. Roscommon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To pull; to pluck. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To ease the pain,
His tugged cars suffered with a strain. Hudibras. [ 1913 Webster ]

He tugged, he shook, till down they came. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To labor; to strive; to struggle. [ 1913 Webster ]

England now is left
To tug and scamble and to part by the teeth
The unowed interest of proud-swelling state. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

At the tug he falls,
Vast ruins come along, rent from the smoking walls. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A sort of vehicle, used for conveying timber and heavy articles. [ Prov. Eng. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) A small, powerful steamboat used to tow vessels; -- called also steam tug, tugboat, and towboat. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A trace, or drawing strap, of a harness. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Mining.) An iron hook of a hoisting tub, to which a tackle is affixed. [ 1913 Webster ]

Tug iron, an iron hook or button to which a tug or trace may be attached, as on the shaft of a wagon. [ 1913 Webster ]