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Definition of mug verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

mug

verb
 
/mʌɡ/
 
/mʌɡ/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they mug
 
/mʌɡ/
 
/mʌɡ/
he / she / it mugs
 
/mʌɡz/
 
/mʌɡz/
past simple mugged
 
/mʌɡd/
 
/mʌɡd/
past participle mugged
 
/mʌɡd/
 
/mʌɡd/
-ing form mugging
 
/ˈmʌɡɪŋ/
 
/ˈmʌɡɪŋ/
Phrasal Verbs
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  1. [transitive] mug somebody to attack somebody violently in order to steal their money, jewellery, etc., especially in a public place
    • She had been mugged in the street in broad daylight.
    Extra Examples
    • Many elderly people will not go out for fear of getting mugged.
    • Your chances of being mugged in Manhattan are lower than ever before.
    Topics Crime and punishmentc1
  2. [intransitive] mug (for somebody/something) (informal) to make silly expressions with your face or behave in a silly, exaggerated way, especially on the stage or before a camera
    • to mug for the cameras
  3. Word Originverb early 16th cent. (originally Scots and northern English, denoting an earthenware bowl): probably of Scandinavian origin; compare with Norwegian mugge, Swedish mugg ‘pitcher with a handle’. mug something up, mug up on something. mid 19th cent.: of unknown origin.
See mug in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
previously
adverb
 
 
From the Word list
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B1
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