Lugs

Lugs are projections, ears, or handles on a component that serve as mounting points, alignment features, or grips. The term covers a range of shapes and sizes, and lugs can be integral to a part or attached separately. In many designs, a lug provides a bearing surface for bolts, pins, or rivets, or acts as an anchor point for connecting other components.

In mechanical and structural contexts, lugs are often tabs with holes for fasteners, used to secure parts such as flanges, brackets, or housings. They help transfer loads and enable precise alignment between parts, sometimes forming a simple interface for assembly and disassembly.

In automotive and industrial equipment, the word is commonly encountered in wheel assemblies as wheel lugs. These include lug studs or bolts and lug nuts that secure a wheel to the hub. Lugs also appear on gears, pulleys, and couplings as attachment points or alignment features.

In electrical engineering, a cable lug is a metal connector that terminates a conductor to allow a bolted connection to equipment, busbars, or distribution panels. Cable lugs are sized for specific conductor cross-sections and bolt standards and come in various shapes to fit different terminals.

More generally, lugs can refer to handles or grips on tools, cases, or machinery—parts designed to be grasped and carried or manipulated by hand. The verb to lug means to carry or drag a heavy object.

Etymology traces to older uses describing projecting attachments or handles, with the term now widely applied across engineering, construction, and everyday language.