c1425 Castle Persev. 2341 in Macro Plays A, good men! be-war now all of Slugge & Slawthe, þe fowle þefe!

a1500 Pol., Rel., & L. Poems (1866) 32 The slugge lokyth to be holpe of god that commawndyth men to waake in the worlde.

1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 159 Do this as often as she vseth to fishe or to play the base slugge on that fashion.

1615 E. Hoby Curry-combe i. 14 Hee that is lumpish at his meales, will proue but a slug in his more serious affaires.

1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica ii. viii. 256 Nature is a Slugg, and doth nothing at the sight of a Whip.

1778 G. L. Way Learning at Loss II. 149 My Uncle you know is a devilish Slugg in Conversation at best.

1812 W. Tennant Anster Fair iii. x. 56 For who like arrant slugs can keep their heads In contact with their pillows now unstirr'd?

1888 C. M. Doughty Trav. Arabia Deserta I. 90 A loiterer at his labour and a slug in the morning.

1931 A. Huxley Let. 25 Sept. (1969) 355 I am making notes for a short study..and tho' this cannot be specifically a retort to Murry it will in effect try to undo some of the mischief that that slug has undoubtedly done.

1940 G. Lorimer & S. Lorimer First Love Farewell iv. 133 ‘He didn't love me and I felt pretty bad about it!’ ‘The complete and utter slug!’

1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren ix. 168 The unfortunate fat boy..is known as..slug.

1966 ‘J. Hackston’ Father clears Out 104 No more big slugs turning up, the rush lost its enthusiasm.

1618 S. Latham New & 2nd Bk. Falconrie iv. 7 The slower flying Hawke or slugge doth winne what she gets most by her pollicie.

1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine ii. viii. 177 Massie iron [chariots], (such would have been slugs in fight).

1699 A. Boyer Royal Dict. at Garde-boutique A Commodity that grows a Slug, a Commodity that sticks by one, that will not go off.

1775 W. Marshall Minutes Agric. 4 Dec. (1778) He has not worked harder than the rest of the [ox-] team,..for he was always a slug.

1806 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life (ed. 4) 118 Travelling..in a stage-coach—I beg pardon—in a ‘Slug’.

1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vii. 276 Manelle, my other nag, is an incorrigible slug.

1894 M. Dyan All in Man's Keeping (1899) 171 When not excited, an Arab horse is a slug.

1614–25 J. Boys Wks. (1629) 487 Cupid shoots in a slugge, and hits none but the sluggish.

?1703 J. Petiver Gazophylacii II. 26 This resembles our small Slug, and like it, is whitish below, but brownish above.

1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Mushroom Garden Snails, the large black Dew Snails, and others without Shells call'd Slugs.

1803 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 9 358 Moles..are carnivorous animals, preying on the slug, the great enemy of horticulture.

1844 R. W. Emerson New Eng. Reformers in Ess. 2nd Ser. 277 A society for the protection of ground-worms, slugs, and mosquitos.

1873 R. Broughton Nancy II. 206 I feel as if a slug had crawled over me.

1780 Encycl. Brit. VI. 4235/2 The black slug, the white slug, the reddish slug, the ash-coloured slug, &c.

1807 A. Young Gen. View Agric. Essex II. vii. 93 The depredations of the white slug, or snail.

1839 Penny Cycl. XIII. 486/2 This section consists of the Grey Slugs.

1839 Penny Cycl. XIII. 486/2 The supposed virtues of a decoction..of Red Slugs.

1858 W. Baird Cycl. Nat. Sci. at Limax The variegated slug.

1870 G. Rolleston Forms Animal Life 187 Cellar Slug (Limax flavus).

1887 Encycl. Brit. XXII. 187/2 The larger black slugs are species of Arion.

1863 Woodward in Intellect. Obs. Nov. 229 Every collector of fossils has heard of the ‘Fairy-loaves’..and ‘Slugs’ (palatal teeth of Ptychodus, etc.).

1799 W. D. Peck Nat. Hist. Slug Worm 13 The viscous coat of the Slugs seems to be their sufficient defence in the larva state.

1862 T. W. Harris Treat. Insects Injurious to Vegetation (ed. 3) 517 Others have dark-colored slimy skin, which has caused them to be called slugs, or slug-worms.

1868 Q. Rev. 124 466 The caterpillars of two moths of the genus Agrotis are often called slugs.

1892 Chambers's Encycl. IX. 512/1 The name Slug is often applied by gardeners to the larvae of saw-flies (Tenthredinidae).

1855 C. Kingsley Glaucus 84 A group of milk-white slugs, from two to six inches long.

1860 F. C. L. Wraxall Life in Sea viii. 188 A protecting apparatus, into which the slugs can withdraw their soft bodies on the approach of danger.

1865 Mrs. L. L. Clarke Common Seaweeds i. 23 On the green Ulva creeps the lovely little slug..called Acteon viridis.

1867 Gardeners' Chron. 7 Sept. 937 The slug-pest is this year in full vigour.

1890 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 25 149/2 Thrushes are..great slug-eaters.

1883 Sutton's Cult. Veget. & Fl. 281 Lime, salt, soot, and nitrate of soda, are certain Slug Killers.

1867 Gardeners' Chron. 7 Sept. 937 A large portion was slug-eaten.

1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. III. xxx. 140 The larvæ of Haworth's genus,..remarkable for their slug-like shape and appearance.

1877 T. H. Huxley & H. N. Martin Course Elem. Biol. (ed. 4) 23 Another common form progresses rapidly with a slug-like movement.

1756 W. Toldervy Hist. Two Orphans (1765) II. 112 Gunpowder, slug, wild-fire, knock-me-down.

1762 T. Smollett Adventures Sir Launcelot Greaves II. xvii. 89 He ordered the waiter..to..bring along-side a short allowance of brandy or grog, that he might cant a slug into his bread-room.

1785 F. Grose Classical Dict. Vulgar Tongue (at cited word) To fire a slug, to drink a dram.

1895 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. II.

1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap vi. 245 Even the new Episcopalian minister..took a slug of rye and said it was undeniably delightful.

1940 R. Chandler Farewell, my Lovely v. 34 I poured her a slug that would have made me float over a wall.

1958 C. Williams Man in Motion (1959) i. 6 Pouring another cup of coffee, I dropped a slug of bourbon in it.

1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon xv. 216 The scene was Hogarthian—with a soldier lying flat in the gutter,..a mother giving her eighteen-month babe a slug of the fire-water, to stop it crying.

1978 L. Heren Growing up on The Times v. 182 Their simple niceness was almost as good as a slug of scotch and a cigarette which I..could not enjoy in their company.

1947 I. Thomas Injection Molding of Plastics vi. 353 If the reservoir were omitted the cold slug of material would enter the cavity and possibly cause smudge or flow marks in the molded article.

1967 Guardian 13 Feb. 14/6 In each pipe will be methane gas plus liquid oil called the ‘slug’... Once ashore the gas and slug have to be separated and cleaned.

1971 Nature 21 May 181/1 A rapid intravenous injection leads to a ‘slug’ of relatively undispersed drug traversing the arteries on the first circuit.

1975 Petroleum Rev. 29 315/3 A collection of liquid, known as a ‘slug’, can amount to several hundred thousand gallons and will travel along the pipeline at a speed of up to 10 miles per hour.

1979 Nature 8 Feb. 441/1 The velocity of the ejected slug of [volcanic] debris.

1849 Daily Picayune (New Orleans) 6 June 1/6 The gold from that stream is generally in large pieces, more generally termed slugs or coarse, but very fine gold, if you please.

1855 Golden Era (San Francisco) 21 Jan. 2/7 We took out one slug weighing 60 ounces of pure gold, in the shape of an ox's tongue.

a1891 Electr. Rev. (U.S.) XVI. viii. 2 ‘That is platinum, and it is worth about $150.’ It was an insignificant looking slug.

1894 Westm. Gaz. 5 May 7/1 Rumours were current..as to the finding of a 17lb. ‘slug’ of gold at Kurnalpi.

1880 C. A. Janvier Pract. Keramics xii. 132 The coarser sorts [of stoneware] are..piled up, only separated by ‘slugs’—rolls or pieces of sandy clay.

1928 Jrnl. Inst. Electr. Engineers 66 346/1 A thick copper cylinder—or ‘slug’—placed over part of the core, or a thin cylinder—or ‘sleeve’—placed over the whole of the core, will provide a closed path of very low resistance in which currents of considerable magnitude may flow.

1943 A. L. Albert Fund. Teleph. ix. 199 The amount of time delay can be regulated by the size and location of the copper slug.

1969 M. L. Gayford Mod. Relay Techniques iii. 60 A slug at the armature end slows down both operation and release. A slug at the rear or heel end has little effect on the operate time but produces suitable delay on release.

1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes vii. 69 The uranium would react chemically with the water,..probably to the point of disintegrating the uranium slugs.

1952 J. G. Feinberg Atom Story xx. 153 On 20th December 1943 the first batch of irradiated slugs were removed from the pile for plutonium extraction. In another month the pile was turning out about one-third ton of plutonium-enriched slugs a day.

a1958 K. Edwards in ‘E. Crispin’ Best SF 3 (1958) 34 The uranium slugs were short and the aluminium cans that held them in the centre of the pile..were long.

1967 J. T. Long Engin. Nucl. Fuel Reprocessing xi. 838 The slugs were cooled by natural convection of water in a finned tank.

1973 Trans. Amer. Nuclear Soc. 17 508/2 A charge of fuel particles, a preformed matrix slug, and a top punch are inserted.

1957 Pract. Wireless 33 566/1 Now adjust trimmers or slugs of discriminator transformer to obtain a symmetrical pattern.

1959 R. L. Shrader Electronic Communication xiv. 390 A few receiver RF amplifiers..use slug tuning, having a mechanical means of pulling the slug into the desired position in the coil by a dial on the front of the equipment.

1960 Pract. Wireless 36 416/2 Coil L2 is also heavily damped and variable tuning is hardly worthwhile; it is accordingly slug~tuned to the centre of the three transmissions to be received.

1979 A. A. Liff Colour & Black & White Television Theory & Servicing iv. 108 The individually tuned circuits in the oscillator section are all slug tuned.

1858 in P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products

1871 Amer. Encycl. Printing 416/2 Slugs, Pieces of metal of various lengths and thicknesses, but always thicker than leads, which they resemble in other respects.

1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 2217/2 Slugs are used to fill out a short page or between display lines.

1888 C. T. Jacobi Printers' Vocab. 127 Slugs, numbered divisions of metal between different takes of copy.

1896 Linotype Co.'s Specimen Bk. The Linotype produces and assembles, side by side, metal bars or slugs.

1851 Oregon Statesman 23 Sept. 2/6 He accordingly ‘pungled down’ two of Moffat's $50 slugs, and of course, cut the black, there being no red spots in the pack.

1872 S. Powers Afoot & Alone 303 A shining ‘slug’, fresh from the San Francisco mint, [was] laid scrupulously in the place.

1890 Daily Evening Bull. (San Francisco) 10 May An interesting reminder of early days in California, in the shape of a round fifty-dollar slug.

1892 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Apr. 554 A small hillock of gold in 10 and 50 dollar slugs.

1892 Labour Comm. Gloss. Slugger, a machine which makes and drives into the bottoms of boots very thick rivets or sprigs called slugs, muds, or studs, to make the soles wear longer.

1887 Lantern (New Orleans) 4 June 5/2 She'd sooner put up her ten slugs and go back to the pipe.

1913 Dial. Notes 4 28 Slug,..round piece of metal for slot machines.

1934 J. T. Farrell Young Manhood Studs Lonigan xvii. 259 He bought a slug from the cashier in the Chain drugstore at Prairie and walked back to the telephone booths.

1925 G. M. Hyde Newspaper Editing (ed. 2) ii. 89 Use expressions that will not offend readers..if the slugs slip into print... ‘Kill widow’..may be misunderstood.

1927 Amer. Speech 2 240/2 ‘Slug’..is a brief title..placed above a story for the guidance of the copy-reader and the printer.

1949 T. F. Barnhart Weekly Newspaper Writing & Editing xxii. 224/2 In many newspaper plants some other term is substituted for guidelines, such as catch~lines, slugs and slug-lines.

1979 A. Hailey Overload (new ed.) iv. vii. 324 The newspaper put a copyright slug over her story.

1665 S. Pepys Diary 4 Feb. (1972) VI. 30 This message he sent in a Slugg-bullett, being writ in Cypher and wrapped up in lead.

1901 H. Seebohm Birds of Siberia xxi. 222 I put a slug-cartridge into my gun.

1940 Illustr. London News 196 53 (caption) Their training includes the use of tear-gas, while they are armed with ‘slug-guns’, ·303 rifles and staves.

1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 218 The youth, handsomely reading Tennyson on summer evenings, or trying to kill birds with feeble, rusted slug-guns.

1873 Routledge's Young Gentleman's Mag. May 356 The slug-shot had entered his arm.

1873 Routledge's Young Gentleman's Mag. May 355 To make use of the slug-loaded pistols first.

c1425 St. Mary of Oignies ii. v, in Anglia VIII. 166/21 She..slugged neuer wiþ slouþe; she defayled in trauayle neuere or seldom.

c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 460/2 Sluggyn, desidio, torpeo, pigritor.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 722/1 Whye slogge you nowe more than you have be wont to do?

c1560 T. Ingelend Disobedient Child (Percy Soc.) 50 I would most commonly slugge in my bed, Untyll it were verye farre forth daye.

1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. vii. 242 The Souldier, slugging long at home in Peace, His wonted courage quickly doth decrease.

1625 R. Sanderson Serm. I. 129 Men account him no wiser than he should be, that sluggeth in his own business, or goeth heartlesly about it.

a1677 I. Barrow Wks. (1686) III. 256 When he mispendeth an hour, or sluggeth on his bed.

1702 C. Mather Magnalia Christi iii. ii. iii. 81/1 He complained, I lie slugging a Bed, when others are at work.

1869 Fortn. Rev. Feb. 157 How often do I slug in bed on the long bright summer mornings.

1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. James ii. f. xxxi^v Of like sorte doubtles shall the profession of faith..bee vnauayleable, but lyeth slugging like as it were deade.

1567–9 J. Jewel Def. Apol. Churche Eng. (1611) 557 If they, whiles the Pope and his Prelats slug and sleep,..do bridle the Priests sensuality.

1607 J. Carpenter Plaine Mans Spirituall Plough 207 These ungodly..slug on the waves of this world, slumber as in the darke night.

a1646 J. Burroughes Expos. Hosea (1652) ix. 312 The Lord offereth deliverance and we lie slugging on our beds.

1642 D. Rogers Naaman 45 The Lord..suffered him not to slug out of the worke, till he had finished it.

1862 in C. C. Robinson Dial. Leeds & Neighbourhood 413.

1869 Echo 8 Mar. He has several times been told by unionists on strike that he would be ‘slugged’ if he went on as he was going.

1883 The Bread-Winners (1884) 213 ‘Who's afraid of half-a-dozen cops?’ said a burly ruffian, who carried a slung~shot... ‘We'll slug 'em this time!’

1890 A. C. Gunter Miss Nobody (1891) i. 11 They mean..to slug him, crush the wind out of his body, and leave him battered and bruised.

1925 A. S. M. Hutchinson One Increasing Purpose i. xviii. 112 I know..that really you were court-martialled and hoofed out... But what the facts were, why you were slugged, how they found out your hideous goings-on, I never could discover.

1938 J. Steinbeck Long Valley 116 I guess the doctor slugged me pretty hard... I feel all right now, only a little dopey.

1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 68 Get slugged, to be charged excessively.

1946 K. S. Prichard Roaring Nineties 326 Alf knew the mine-owners were slugging the prospectors and alluvial diggers.

1962 ‘K. Orvis’ Damned & Destroyed vi. 46 She had..slugged herself insensible with a terrific overdose of heroin.

1974 P. De Vries Glory of Hummingbird ii. 14 The thankless task of slugging contributions out of the congregation.

1976 Australasian Express 11 June 26/2 Canberra: Big cars will be slugged for extra insurance if a report to the Government is adopted.

1977 New Yorker 19 Sept. 96/2 I've been slugging out so many notes of American music I'm turning into a piece of apple pie.

1943 Time 10 May 98/3 Twice it screens exciting action: once when the sub slugs it out with a disguised German raider.

1952 M. Lowry Let. 11 Jan. (1967) 286 Somehow we slugged it out, without having to abandon the house.

1970 Listener 23 July 127/3 It decided not to slug it out directly with News at Ten.

1973 Black World Mar. 58 I saw the two shadows boxing on the side of the brick building... It was Bernie and Bennie Speakes, twins about 10, slugging it out in the alley.

1978 Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. 14 c/1 They'll slug it out, week by week, blow by blow, for all the world to see.