pug
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L326094 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /pʌɡ/ / /pɐɡ/ / /pʊɡ/
noun
Etymology: From Late Middle English pugge (“husk of grain”); further etymology unknown, possibly related to pug (verb) (see etymology 5). However, the latter is only attested much later.
- The residue left after pressing apples for cider; pomace.
- Often in the plural: the husks and other refuse removed from grain by winnowing; chaff.
“Radiſh ſeed vvould vvillingly be ſovvne in a looſe or light ground, and natherleſſe moiſt enough: it cannot abide danke mucke, but contenteth it ſelfe vvith rotten chaffe or pugs, and ſuch like plaine mullock.”
“The pugg, i.e. the refuſe corne left at winnowinge.”
verb
Etymology: Origin unknown; etymology 6 sense 1.2 (“to spoil (something) by touching too much”) is possibly influenced by pug (verb, noun) (see etymology 5) or puggy.
- To pull or tug (something).
“George pugg'd clover in the forenoon.”
“Nae thing was prosperin’ there and thrivin’, / But tirlin’ roofs and rafter-rivin’, / And pullin’ down and puggin’; […]”
- To spoil (something) by touching too much.
“["B]e sure not to wet it up too much; make it into twelve doughboys" (dumplings). / "I'm so heavy-handed," Jane remarked at this point, "I always spoil that sort of cookery." / "Tell about heavy-handed!" cried Betsy; "I'll answer for it, I'll soon put you in the way of being light-handed! You only want to learn to handle things without pugging and pawing them about too much."”
- Followed by at: to pull or tug.