tug

[TUG, v.] I. Ordinary Language : 1. A pull with great effort or labor. "Downward by the feet he drew The trembling dastard; at the tug he falls." Dryden: Virgil's Eneid , ix. 758. 2. A supreme effort; a struggle. "When Greeks joined Greeks, then was the tug of war." Lee: Alexander the Great , iv. 2. 3. A kind of carriage used for conveying timber, faggots, . 4. Raw hide, of which in old times plow-traces were frequently made. (Scotch.) "Thou was a noble fittie-lan', As e'er in tug or tow was drawn." Burns: Auld Farmer to his Auld Mare. II. Technically : 1. Harne : A trace by which the draft animal pulls the load. 2. Naut .: A tug-boat (q. v.). 3. Mining : The iron hoop of a corve to which the tackle is attached. 1. To hold one tug: To keep one busily employed; to keep one at work. ( Life of A. Wood, July 18, 1667.) *2. To hold tug : To stand severe handling or hard work. 3. Tug of war : A game in which sides are chosen, and both take hold of a rope, each endeavoring to pull the other over a line.