I. slug 1 /slʌɡ/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Origin: Probably from a Scandinavian language ]
1 . a small creature with a soft body, that moves very slowly and eats garden plants
2 . American English informal a bullet:
Perez still has a slug lodged in his left shoulder.
3 . informal a small amount of a strong alcoholic drink
slug of
a slug of brandy
4 . American English informal a piece of metal shaped like a coin, used to illegally get a drink, ticket etc from a machine
5 . American English someone who gets to work by standing in a particular place until a driver stops and lets them go with them in their car
II. slug 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle slugged , present participle slugging ) [transitive]
[ Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: Probably from ↑ slog 1 ]
1 . slug it out if two people slug it out, they fight or compete until one of them has won
2 . informal to hit someone hard with your closed hand SYN punch
3 . to hit a ball hard
4 . ( also slug back ) to drink an alcoholic drink, especially by swallowing large amounts at the same time