1 a piece of thick cloth or wool that covers part of a floor, used for warmth or as a decoration → carpet: a large circular rug2pull the rug (out) from under somebody (also pull the rug (out) from under somebody’s feet) informal to suddenly take away something that someone was depending on to achieve what he or she wanted: He promised support, then pulled the rug out from under us.3humorous a toupee [Origin: 1500–1600 from a Scandinavian language] → see also sweep something under the rug/carpetat sweep1 (13)