tufty1 (tuft i)

[ The sylvans... about the neighbouring woods did dwell, Both in the tufty frith and in the mo y fell. Drayton, Polyolbion, xvii. 387. tufty2 (tuf'ti), a. [ tuft2 + -y1.] 1. Abounding in tufts or knots. Here the ground lay jagged and shaggy, wrought up with high tufts of reed, this tufty , flaggy ground. R. D. Black more , Lorna Doone, lix. 2. Growing in tufts. Where tufty daisies nod at every gale. W. Browne, Britannia's Pastorals, i. 5. tug (tug), v.; pret. and pp. tugged , ppr. tugging. [ME. tuggen , toggen , togen , a secondary form of tukken , pull: see tuck1 , tow1, teel.] I. trans. 1. To pull or draw with sturdy effort or violent strain; haul with force; pull. Togyd with tene [sorrow] was god of prys; To don hym sorwe was here delys [their delight]; He seyde no word loth. Political Poems , etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 248. Turkes slauish tugging oares. Dekker , Londons Tempe (Works, ed. Pearson, IV. 119). As when a slaughter'd bull's yet-reeking hide, Strain'd with full force, and tugg'd from side to side, The brawny curriers stretch. Pope , Iliad, xvii. 451. And [the satyrs] tug their shaggy Beards, and bite with Grief the Ground. Congreve, Death of Queen Mary. 2. To tow by means of a steam-tug: as, the ve el had to be tugged into port. II. in trans. 1. To pull with great effort; haul; drag. IMG:content-1041.jpg:[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small] 2. A supreme effort; the severest strain or struggle; a contest; wrestle; tu le. She had seen from the window Tartar in full tug with two carriers' dogs, each of them a match for him in size. Charlotte Brontë , Shirley, xx. 3. A vehicle used in some parts of England for conveying timber or fagots. I have seen one tree on a carriage which they call there [in Su ex] a Tug , drawn by twenty-two oxen. Defoe , Tour through Great Britain, I. 204. ( Davies .) 4. A small but powerful steam-ve el, whether screw or paddle, constructed for the purpose of towing other ve els.-5. A chain, strong rope, or leather strap used as a trace; a trace (of a harne ). It [tugge] sign if i eth the pull or draught of the oxen or horses, and therefore the leathers that beare the chiefe stre e of the draught the cartars call then tugges. Putten ham , Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 229. My fur ah in' [off wheel-horse]'s a wordy [worthy] beast As e'er in tug or tow was trac'd. Burns, The Inventory. 6. In mining, an iron hoop to which a tackle is affixed. To hold one tugt, to keep one busily employed; keep one in work. There was work enough for a curious and critical Antiquary, that would hold him tugg for a whole yeare. Life of A. Wood (by himself), p. 206. To hold tugt, to stand severe handling or hard work. Tug of war. ( a ) A severe and laborious contest. When Greeks join'd Greeks, then was the tug of War. Lee, Alexander the Great, iv. 2. (b) An athletic contest in which a number of persons, generally four on each side and limited to a certain weight, tug at the ends of a rope, each side trying to pull the rope from the other, or to pull the other side over a line marked on the ground between the contestants. Also called rope pull.