plug

1 noun (C)

1 ELECTRICITY

a) a thing used for connecting a piece of electrical equipment to the main supply of electricity: a two-pin plug

b) BrE informal a piece of plastic, usually on a wall, where electrical equipment is connected to the main electricity supply; socket (1): Make sure you turn the television off at the plug.

c) an object used for connecting a wire from one piece of electrical equipment such as a computer to another

2 BATH a round flat piece of rubber or plastic used for stopping the water flowing out of a bath or sink 2

3 ADVERTISEMENT informal an attempt to persuade people to buy a book, see a film etc, by talking about it publicly, especially on television or radio: give sth a plug: She appeared on all the talk shows to give her new book a plug.

4 IN AN ENGINE informal the part of a petrol engine that makes a spark and explodes the petrol mixture; spark plug: Change the plugs every 10,000 miles.

5 pull the plug (on sth) to prevent a plan or business from being able to continue, especially by deciding not to give it any more money: We were doing fine until the bank pulled the plug on us.

6 PIECE a piece of something pressed tightly together: a cotton wool plug | a plug of tobacco

7 FOR HOLDING SCREWS (C) a small plastic tube put in a hole to hold a screw tightly

2 verb (T)

1 also plug up to fill or block a small hole: I used cement to plug the holes in the plaster.

2 to try to persuade people to buy a book, see a film etc by talking about it on television or radio: Arnold was only on the show to plug his new movie.

3 plug the gap/gaps to provide more of something that is needed: With so few trained doctors, paramedics were brought in to plug the gap.

4 AmE old-fashioned to shoot someone

plug away phrasal verb (I) to keep working hard at something (+ at): I'm sure if you keep plugging away at it, your English will improve. plug sth in phrasal verb (T) to connect a piece of electrical equipment to the main supply of electricity, or to another piece of electrical equipment: I don't think the antenna's plugged in right. plug into sth phrasal verb (T)

1 to connect one piece of electrical equipment to another: plug sth into sth: The TV was plugged into the stereo system.

2 to connect your computer to a big computer system