1a piece of solid material fitting tightly into a hole and blocking it up:somewhere in the pipes there is a plug of ice blocking the flow
a circular piece of metal, rubber, or plastic used to stop the plughole of a bath or basin and keep the water in it:she pulled out the plug and got out on to the sodden bath mat
North American informal a baby’s dummy.
a mass of solidified lava filling the neck of a volcano.
(in gardening) a young plant or clump of grass with a small mass of soil protecting its roots, for planting out.
2a device for making an electrical connection between an appliance and the mains, consisting of an insulated casing with metal pins that fit into holes in a socket:the cable is fitted with a two-pin plug
a socket into which an electric plug can be fitted:the vacuum cleaner cord snaked away to a hidden plug
3 informal a piece of publicity promoting a product, event, or establishment:he threw in a plug, boasting that the restaurant offered many entrées for under £5
4a piece of tobacco cut from a larger cake for chewing:they sold chewing tobacco in bars and plugs
[mass noun] (also plug tobacco) tobacco in large cakes designed to be cut for chewing:he was always chewing plug and cracking jokes
1block or fill in (a hole or cavity):trucks arrived loaded with gravel to plug the hole and clear the road
fill:the new sanctions are meant to plug the gaps in the trade embargo
insert (something) into an opening so as to fill it:the baby plugged his thumb into his mouth
2 informal mention (a product, event, or establishment) publicly in order to promote it:during the show he plugged his new record
3North American informal shoot or hit (someone or something):he got plugged in the head while he was taking a nap
4 [no object, with adverbial] informal proceed steadily and laboriously with a journey or task:during the years of poverty, he plugged away at his writing
plug the gap (or gaps)
provide something that is lacking in a particular situation:the government is to borrow £29 billion to plug the gap in public spending
plug something in
connect an electrical appliance to the mains by inserting a plug in a socket:she plugged in the electric kettle and spooned coffee into the percolator
plug into
(of an electrical appliance) be connected to another appliance by a lead inserted in a socket:you can buy a camera which will plug into your video cassette recorder
gain or have access to a system of computerized information:we plug into the research facilities available at the institute
become knowledgeable about and involved with:the workshops are a great way to plug into radical ideas and radical groups
