American tug (4)
I believe the answer is:
yank
I believe this is a double definition.
'american' is the first definition.
(Yank can informally mean an American)
'tug' is the second definition.
(both can mean to pull)
(Other definitions for yank that I've seen before include "Unceremoniously drag" , "An informal American - tug him" , "American - jerk" , "one seen crossing the Atlantic?" , "Jerk, pull suddenly" .)