a thick fabric for covering part of a floor, often woven of wool and often having an oblong shape with a border design.
the treated skin of an animal, used as a floor covering.
a bear rug.
Chiefly British. a piece of thick, warm cloth, used as a coverlet, lap robe, etc.
Slang. toupee; hairpiece.
a floor covering, smaller than a carpet and made of thick wool or of other material, such as an animal skin
a blanket, esp one used as a wrap or lap robe for travellers
slang a wig
to betray, expose, or leave defenceless
1545–55; < Old Norse rǫgg wool, long hairs; compare Norwegian rugga covering of coarse wool, Swedish rugg coarse hair
A rug is something made of woven fabric that covers a floor. If your downstairs neighbor is complaining about the noise, try buying a rug. A rug is smaller than a carpet, which usually covers a room's entire floor — rugs leave parts of the floor exposed. Some are thick and dense, providing a cushiony area for walking or sitting. Rug also informally means "wig or toupee," so you could say, "Did you see that guy's terrible blonde rug?" And if you want to pretend something didn't happen, you'll have to colloquially "sweep it under the rug," or hide it.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Meanwhile, Eric pulls them around on a rug he rigged as a magic carpet and helps stack the blocks into towers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
“Imagine rug pulling your own base,” said one Reddit user in a post on the r/CryptoCurrency subreddit.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026
"But Korea had the courage to look what it had done straight in the eye" while "Denmark prefers to sweep everything under the rug," he said.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
While the likes of Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Maguire had that feeling of a rug being pulled out from under them, Ivan Toney represents one of manager Thomas Tuchel's big reveals.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
The living room rug was one of the very last things.
From "All About Sam" by Lois Lowry
A RUG Made of narrow strips of cotton cloth.
From Construction Work for Rural and Elementary Schools by McGaw, Virginia
So do the animal-shaped wool carpets that riff on traditional skin rugs by using vegetarian-friendly materials to create colorful, flattened creatures: a fiery, spotted cheetah; a purple-striped dodo; a particularly silly mammoth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Colorful rugs and artworks help to add a vibrant feel to a den space, which features a built-in fireplace, while a variety of textures bring a fresh perspective to the open-plan design.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
Although she chased cats, bit bus conductors and left messes on other people’s rugs, Tulip was inarguably the love of J.R.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
They also have English Staffordshire porcelain dog and giraffe figurines, vintage British and French Majolica plates, and lamps and rugs they found on Etsy, EBay and at auctions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
The entry hall stretched from one side of the building to the other, an expanse of glittering crystal, plush Turkish rugs, and carved wood.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
