nug

English

Etymology 1

From dialectal nug, nog, knog (“a knot, lump, block, a misshapen mass of anything, peg, linchpin”), also found in Scots nug, nugg, nogg (“small block of wood, peg, pin”), of uncertain origin. Probably from earlier *knug, *knugg, *knogg, related to dialectal Norwegian knugg (“knot, knob”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *knuk- (“to ball up, mass together”), making it further related to English knock and knuckle.

Alternative forms

• nudge, nugg, nogg, nog, knog

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

nug (plural nugs)

1. (West Country) lump; block

References

• Wright, Joseph (1903) The English Dialect Dictionary‎^[1], volume 4, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 309

Etymology 2

A small nug (sense 1)

Clipping of nugget, from the sense above.

Alternative forms

• nugg

Noun

nug (plural nugs)

1. (slang) A piece of marijuana.

   Synonym: bud

   • 2006, Jason King, The Cannabible 3,, page 25:

     A deep inhalation of a fresh ground-up nug leaves you with a giant smile and a tingly nose.

2. (chiefly slang) A chicken nugget.

   Synonym: nuggie

   • 2012, Mike Lacher, On the Bro'd: A Parody of Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, page 71:

     A lotta times I grabbed bags of frozen chicken nuggets to take home. “You know what they say,” Ricky would be like. “Dude's gotta have nugs.”

References

• Eric Partridge (2005) “nug”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volume 2 (J–Z), London, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 703.

Etymology 3

Noun

nug (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of noog (“Guizotia abyssinica”)

Anagrams

• GNU, Ngu, UNG, Ung, gnu, gun

Welsh

Verb

nug

1. Nasal mutation of dug.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
dug	ddug	nug	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

White Hmong

Etymology

From Proto-Hmong *nɛŋᶜ (“to ask”); related to Proto-Mien *nu̯aiᶜ (“id”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nu˧˩̤/

Verb

nug

1. to ask; to question

References

• Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979) White Hmong — English Dictionary‎^[2], SEAP Publications, →ISBN, page 142.