pug

Etymology 1

noun

1. A small dog of an ancient breed originating in China, having a snub nose, wrinkled face, squarish body, short smooth hair, and curled tail.
2. A bargeman.
3. (obsolete) chaff; the refuse of grain
4. Any geometrid moth of the genus Eupithecia.

Etymology 2

Corruption of puck, from Old English pūca (“goblin, demon”). Compare Icelandic púki (“demon”) and Welsh pwca (“hobgoblin”).

noun

1. (obsolete) An elf or hobgoblin.
   The great diuell. Pvg. The lesse diuell. 1616, Ben Jonson, The Devil Is an Ass
2. An upper servant in a great house.
3. A harlot; a prostitute.
   the Lo. Admyrall and the Lord Threasurer with a couple of Pugges or some vscough baugh or some such toyes, it would shew that you do not neglect them, whoe, I protest, are to you wonderfull kynde. September 24 1600, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, letter

Etymology 3

Abbreviation of pugilist, from Latin pugil.

noun

1. (informal) One who fights with fists; a boxer.
   He never trained for his characters either: with his slurred speech and disfigured mug he usually portrayed a punch-drunk ex-pug or comic tough guy, roles in which he was a natural. 1988, Ken Blady, The Jewish Boxers Hall of Fame, page 226

Etymology 4

Compare German pucken (“to thump, beat”).

noun

1. Any compressed clay-like material mixed and worked into a soft, plastic condition for making bricks, pottery or for paving. (Also pug soil)
2. A pug mill.

verb

1. (transitive) To mix and stir when wet.
   to pug clay for bricks or pottery
2. (transitive) To fill or stop with clay by tamping; to fill in or spread with mortar, as a floor or partition, for the purpose of deadening sound.

Etymology 5

From Hindi पग (pag, “step, foot”), related to Sanskrit पद्य (padya, “foot”) and Greek πόδι (pódi, “foot”).

noun

1. The pawprint or footprint of an animal.
   And on closer investigation the abashed coolies discover that across the great square pug of the tiger runs the delicate tracing of the little field rat's toes […] 1889, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, Pigsticking, page 56

Etymology 6

Probably related to puck.

noun

1. (obsolete) A term of endearment.

Etymology 7

Acronym of pickup group.

noun

1. (online gaming) Alternative letter-case form of PuG (group of players who are unknown to each other, grouped together to work toward a short-term goal, such as completing a dungeon or a raid)