- The definition of a mug is a heavy drinking cup that usually has a handle, or a slang term for the face or mouth.
- An example of a mug is a cup for drinking coffee.
- An example of a mug is a frown.
- Mug is defined as to attack someone, particularly to rob him or her, or is slang for making faces in front of the camera.
- An example of mug is to steal a person's wallet.
- An example of mug is for a little boy to make a scary face while his mom is taking his picture.
- a heavy drinking cup of earthenware or metal, having a handle and formerly often ornamented with a human face
- as much as a mug will hold
- the face
- the mouth
- a grimace
- a rough, ugly person; ruffian, thug, etc.
- ☆ mug shot
Origin of mugprobably ; from Scandinavian as in Swedish mugg
transitive verbmugged, mugging
- to assault usually with intent to rob
- ☆ Slang to photograph; esp., to photograph (a person under arrest) for police records
- to assault a person, usually with intent to rob
- to make a grimace
- Theater to overact by exaggerated facial expressions
- A heavy cylindrical drinking cup usually having a handle.
- The amount that such a cup can hold.
Origin of mugPerhaps of Scandinavian origin.
- Informal a. The human face.b. The area of the human mouth, chin, and jaw.c. A grimace.d. A mug shot.
- A thug; a hoodlum.
- Chiefly British Slang A victim or dupe.
verbmugged mugged, mug·ging, mugs
- Informal To photograph (a person's face) for police files.
- To threaten or assault (a person) with the intent to rob: arrested the thief who mugged the tourists.
Origin of mugProbably from mug1 (possibly in allusion to mugs decorated with grotesque faces).
(third-person singular simple present mugs, present participle mugging, simple past and past participle mugged)
- 1857, "The Leary Man", in Anglicus Ducange, The Vulgar Tongue
- And if you come to fibbery, You must Mug one or two,
- 1866, London Miscellany, 5 May, p. 102
- "Suppose they had Mugged you?" / "Done what to me?" / "Mugged you. Slogged you, you know."
- To assault for the purpose of robbery.
- (intransitive) To exaggerate a facial expression for communicative emphasis; to make a face, to pose, as for photographs or in a performance, in an exaggerated or affected manner.
- The children weren't interested in sitting still for a serious photo; they mugged for the camera.
1560s ("bowl, pot, jug"), of unknown origin, perhaps from North Germanic (compare Swedish mugg (â€œmug, jugâ€), Norwegian mugge (â€œpitcher, open can for warm drinksâ€), Danish mugge), or Low German mokke, mukke (â€œmugâ€), also of unknown origin. "Face" sense possibly from grotesque faces on certain drinking vessels. "Assault" sense of verb possibly from hitting someone in the face.