mug
Americannoun
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a drinking cup, usually cylindrical in shape, having a handle, and often of a heavy substance, as earthenware.
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the quantity it holds.
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Slang.
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the face.
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the mouth.
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an exaggerated facial expression; grimace, as in acting.
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a thug, ruffian, or other criminal.
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British Slang. a gullible person; dupe; fool.
verb (used with object)
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to assault or menace, especially with the intention of robbery.
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Slang. to photograph (a person), especially in compliance with an official or legal requirement.
verb (used without object)
noun
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slang a person's face or mouth
get your ugly mug out of here!
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slang a grimace
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slang a gullible person, esp one who is swindled easily
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a worthless activity
verb
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informal (tr) to attack or rob (someone) violently
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slang (intr) to pull faces or overact, esp in front of a camera
noun
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a drinking vessel with a handle, usually cylindrical and made of earthenware
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Also called: mugful. the quantity held by a mug or its contents
Etymology
Origin of mug
First recorded in 1560–70; probably from Scandinavian; compare Swedish mugg, Norwegian, Danish mugge “drinking cup”; sense “face” apparently transferred from cups adorned with grotesque faces; sense “to assault” from earlier pugilistic slang “to strike in the face, fight”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Interpreting stock market returns as snapshots of the economy is a mug’s game.
From Los Angeles Times
Daisy looked at it, and making a sour face she said, “Yuck! Jay Berry, your tongue is so coated, it looks just like the inside of Papa’s shaving mug.”
From Literature
Home from their adventures—and with the picture book right side up again—the four children curl up by the fireplace with steaming mugs of hot cocoa.
Instead of bait, lines and hooks, they are allowed to use only lures—anything from a coffee mug to a Jell-O mold—and pitchfork-like spears.
Ceramic mugs are back, and the idea of the cafe as a welcoming third place is being reinstated.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
