n. & v.
n. 1 a a drinking-vessel, usu. cylindrical and with a handle and used without a saucer. b its contents. 2 sl. the face or mouth of a person. 3 Brit. sl. a a simpleton. b a gullible person. 4 US sl. a hoodlum or thug.
v. (mugged, mugging) 1 tr. rob (a person) with violence esp. in a public place. 2 tr. thrash. 3 tr. strangle. 4 intr. sl. make faces, esp. before an audience, a camera, etc. a mug's game Brit. colloq. a foolish or unprofitable activity. mug shot sl. a photograph of a face, esp. for official purposes. mugger n. (esp. in sense 1 of v.). mugful n. (pl. -fuls). mugging n. (in sense 1 of v.).
[ prob. f. Scand.: sense 2 of n. prob. f. the representation of faces on mugs, and sense 3 prob. from this ]