Meaning & use
glug
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountableinformal
The bubbling sound made when liquid flows out of or into a narrow opening.
Grammar: Often repeated: glug, glug.
Patterns
- a glug of something
- the glug of water
The bottle emptied with a loud glug.
We heard the glug of water going down the drain.
Each pour gave a deep glug from the narrow jug.
nouncountableinformal
A large mouthful or generous splash of liquid, especially a drink.
Grammar: Informal for a measure: a glug of olive oil.
Patterns
- a glug of something
Add a glug of olive oil to the pan.
He poured a glug of milk into his tea.
She took a glug of lemonade and sighed.
verbtransitive or intransitiveinformal
To drink quickly in big swallows, or to pour or flow with a bubbling sound.
Grammar: With an object when drinking: glug the juice; without when pouring: the water glugged out.
Patterns
- glug something down
- glug out
He glugged the water straight from the bottle.
The cold juice glugged out of the carton.
She glugged down her drink and ran for the bus.
Word forms
| plural | glugs |
|---|---|
| third person singular | glugs |
| past tense | glugged |
| past participle | glugged |
| -ing form | glugging |
Common combinations
- glug of oil
- Stir in a glug of oil.
- glug down
- He glugged down the milk.
- glug glug
- The bottle went glug glug as I tipped it.
- glug of wine
- Add a glug of wine to the sauce.
- glug from the bottle
- We took turns glugging from the bottle.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gulp
- Gulp stresses swallowing quickly and may be from nerves, while glug suggests a fuller, bubbling sound.
- swig
- Swig is a casual word for a large drink, usually from a bottle.
- gurgle
- Gurgle names the sound of liquid moving, and it is not used for drinking.
Opposites
Word family
- glugging noun
- the sound or act of gulping liquid
- gurgle verb
- to make a bubbling sound
Commonly confused: glug or gulp?
glug vs gulp
A gulp is one big swallow; a glug is the sound or a measure of poured liquid, and the verb stresses a noisy gulp.
Practice
What does a cook mean by adding a glug of olive oil?
Choose one answer.
A glug is an unmeasured, generous pour. A drop would be much smaller, and the other options do not describe a quantity of liquid.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “glug”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.