|Origin:||From the sound|
chug past tense and past participle chugged, present participle chugging
1 [intransitive always + adverb/preposition]
if a car, train etc chugs somewhere, it moves there slowly, with the engine making a repeated low sound
chug along/up/around etc
The boat chugged out of the harbour.
2 [transitive] also chug-a-lug American English informal
to drink all of something in a glass or bottle without stopping
3 [intransitive always + adverb/preposition]
to make slow but steady progress:
The economy just keeps chugging along.
—chug noun [countable usually singular]