Etymology
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slug (n.1)

"shell-less land snail," 1704, originally "lazy person" (early 15c.); related to sluggard.

slug (n.2)

"lead bit," 1620s, perhaps a special use of slug (n.1), perhaps on some supposed resemblance. Meaning "token or counterfeit coin" first recorded 1881; meaning "strong drink" first recorded 1756, perhaps from slang fire a slug "take a drink," though it also may be related to Irish slog "swallow." Journalism sense is from 1925, originally a short guideline for copy editors at the head of a story.

slug (n.3)

"a hard blow," 1830, dialectal, of uncertain origin; perhaps related to slaughter or perhaps a secondary form of slay.

slug (v.)

"deliver a hard blow with the fist," 1862, from slug (n.3). Related: Slugged; slugging. Slugging-match is from 1878.

Entries linking to slug

sluggard (n.)

late 14c., late 13c. as a surname, "habitually lazy person," from Middle English sluggi "sluggish, indolent," probably from a Scandinavian word such as dialectal Norwegian slugga "be sluggish," dialectal Norwegian sluggje "heavy, slow person," dialectal Swedish slogga "to be slow or sluggish." Adjective sluggy is attested in English from early 13c. As an adjective meaning "sluggish, lazy" from 1590s. Related: Sluggardly.

'Tis the voice of a sluggard — I heard him complain:
"You have wak'd me too soon, I must slumber again."
[Isaac Watts, 1674-1748]

***

'Tis the voice of the Lobster: I heard him declare
"You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair."
["Lewis Carroll" (Charles L. Dodgson), 1832-1898]
slaughter (n.)

c. 1300, "the killing of a person, murder; the killing of large numbers of persons in battle;" mid-14c., "the killing of a cattle or sheep for food;" from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse slatr "a butchering, butcher meat," slatra "to slaughter," slattr "a mowing," related to Old Norse sla "to strike," from Proto-Germanic *slagan- (see slay (v.)).

The form was perhaps influenced by Middle English slaught "killing, manslaughter, carnage; butchery of animals," the native cognate, from Old English sliht, sleht, slieht "stroke, slaughter, murder, death; animals for slaughter;" as in sliehtswyn "pig for killing."

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Definitions of slug
1
slug (n.)
a projectile that is fired from a gun;
Synonyms: bullet
slug (n.)
a unit of mass equal to the mass that accelerates at 1 foot/sec/sec when acted upon by a force of 1 pound; approximately 14.5939 kilograms;
slug (n.)
a counterfeit coin;
slug (n.)
an idle slothful person;
Synonyms: sluggard
slug (n.)
an amount of an alcoholic drink (usually liquor) that is poured or gulped;
he took a slug of hard liquor
slug (n.)
a strip of type metal used for spacing;
Synonyms: type slug
slug (n.)
any of various terrestrial gastropods having an elongated slimy body and no external shell;
slug (n.)
(boxing) a blow with the fist;
Synonyms: punch / clout / poke / lick / biff
2
slug (v.)
strike heavily, especially with the fist or a bat;
He slugged me so hard that I passed out
Synonyms: slog / swig
slug (v.)
be idle; exist in a changeless situation;
He slugged in bed all morning
Synonyms: idle / laze / stagnate
From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near slug

slowness

slowpoke

slubberdegullion

sludge

sluff

slug

slug-a-bed

slugfest

sluggard

slugger

sluggish

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