drag

American  

[drag] / dræg /

verb (used with object)

• drags,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dragged,
  past participle,  past
• dragging
  present participle

1. to draw with force, effort, or difficulty; pull heavily or slowly along; haul; trail.

   They dragged the carpet out of the house.

2. to search with a drag, grapnel, or the like.

   They dragged the lake for the body of the missing man.

3. to level and smooth (land) with a drag or harrow.

4. to introduce; inject; insert.

   He drags his honorary degree into every discussion.

5. to protract (something) or pass (time) tediously or painfully (often followed by out oron ).

   They dragged the discussion out for three hours.

6. to pull (a graphical image) from one place to another on a computer display screen.

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verb (used without object)

• drags,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dragged,
  past participle,  past
• dragging
  present participle

1. to be drawn or hauled along.

2. to trail on the ground.

3. to move heavily or with effort.

4. to proceed or pass with tedious slowness.

   The parade dragged by endlessly.

5. to feel listless or apathetic; move listlessly or apathetically (often followed byaround ).

   This heat wave has everyone dragging around.

   Synonyms:

   loiter, linger

6. to lag behind.

7. to use a drag or grapnel; dredge.

8. to take part in a drag race.

9. to take a puff.

   to drag on a cigarette.

noun

• drags
  plural

1. something that retards progress.

2. Aeronautics. the aerodynamic force exerted on an airfoil, airplane, or other aerodynamic body that tends to reduce its forward motion.

3. an act of dragging.

4. slow, laborious movement or procedure; retardation.

5. Slang. someone or something tedious; a bore.

   It's a drag having to read this old novel.

6. a puff or inhalation on a cigarette, pipe, etc.

7. clothing, makeup, and accessories typically associated with one gender when worn by a person of a different gender.

   We went to a Mardi Gras ball where many of the dancers were in drag.

8. a performance art form that is especially associated with LGBTQ+ communities and is characterized by a stylized and exaggerated interpretation of femininity, or sometimes masculinity, that plays with stereotypical gender themes.

9. clothing characteristic of a particular occupation or milieu.

   Two guests showed up in gangster drag.

10. Informal. a street or thoroughfare, especially a main street of a town or city.

11. a drag race.

12. Nautical.

    1. a designed increase of draft toward the stern of a vessel.

    2. resistance to the movement of a hull through the water.

    3. any of a number of weights dragged cumulatively by a vessel sliding down ways to check its speed.

    4. any object dragged in the water, as a sea anchor.

    5. any device for dragging the bottom of a body of water to recover or detect objects.

13. Angling.

    1. a brake on a fishing reel.

    2. the sideways pull on a fishline, as caused by a crosscurrent.

14. Agriculture. a heavy wooden or steel frame drawn over the ground to smooth it.

15. a stout sledge or sled.

16. a four-horse sporting and passenger coach with seats inside and on top.

17. a metal shoe to receive a wheel of heavy wagons and serve as a brake on steep grades.

18. Hunting.

    1. the scent left by a fox or other animal.

    2. something, as aniseed, dragged over the ground to leave an artificial scent.

    3. Also called drag hunt.  a hunt, especially a fox hunt, in which the hounds follow an artificial scent.

19. Also called comb.  Masonry. a steel plate with a serrated edge for dressing a stone surface.

20. Metallurgy. the lower part of a flask.

21. Slang. influence.

    He claims he has drag with his senator.

22. Older Slang. a girl or woman that one takes on a date.

adjective

1. marked by or involving the wearing of clothing, makeup, and accessories typically associated with a different gender.

   They’re so talented at drag makeup.

idioms

1. drag one's feet / heels, to act with reluctance; delay.

   The committee is dragging its feet coming to a decision.

drag British  

/ dræɡ /

verb

1. to pull or be pulled with force, esp along the ground or other surface

2. (tr; often foll by away or from) to persuade to come away (from something attractive or interesting)

   he couldn't drag himself away from the shop

3. to trail or cause to trail on the ground

4. (tr) to move (oneself, one's feet, etc) with effort or difficulty

   he drags himself out of bed at dawn

5. to linger behind

6. to prolong or be prolonged tediously or unnecessarily

   his talk dragged on for hours

7. to pass (time) in discomfort, poverty, unhappiness, etc

   he dragged out his few remaining years

8. to search (the bed of a river, canal, etc) with a dragnet or hook

   they dragged the river for the body

9. (tr foll by out or from) to crush (clods) or level (a soil surface) by use of a drag

10. (of hounds) to follow (a fox or its trail) to the place where it has been lying

11. slang (intr) to draw (on a cigarette, pipe, etc)

12. computing to move (data) from one place to another on the screen by manipulating a mouse with its button held down

13. (of a vessel) to move away from its mooring because the anchor has failed to hold

14. informal to act with deliberate slowness

15. to disgrace or defame someone

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noun

1. the act of dragging or the state of being dragged

2. an implement, such as a dragnet, dredge, etc, used for dragging

3. Also called: drag harrow.  a type of harrow consisting of heavy beams, often with spikes inserted, used to crush clods, level soil, or prepare seedbeds

4. a sporting coach with seats inside and out, usually drawn by four horses

5. a braking or retarding device, such as a metal piece fitted to the underside of the wheel of a horse-drawn vehicle

6. a person or thing that slows up progress

7. slow progress or movement

8. aeronautics the resistance to the motion of a body passing through a fluid, esp through air: applied to an aircraft in flight, it is the component of the resultant aerodynamic force measured parallel to the direction of air flow

9. the trail of scent left by a fox or other animal hunted with hounds

10. an artificial trail of a strong-smelling substance, sometimes including aniseed, drawn over the ground for hounds to follow

11. See drag hunt

12. angling unnatural movement imparted to a fly, esp a dry fly, by tension on the angler's line

13. informal a person or thing that is very tedious; bore

    exams are a drag

14. slang a car

15. short for drag race

16. slang

    1. women's clothes worn by a man, usually by a transvestite (esp in the phrase in drag )

    2. ( as modifier )

       a drag club

       drag show

    3. clothes collectively

17. informal a draw on a cigarette, pipe, etc

18. slang influence or persuasive power

19. slang a street or road

drag Scientific  

/ drăg /

1. A force acting on a moving body, opposite in direction to the movement of the body, caused by the interaction of the body and the medium it moves through. The strength of drag usually depends on the velocity of the body.

2. ◆ Drag caused by buildup of pressure in front of the moving body and a decrease in pressure behind the body is called pressure drag. It is an important factor in the design of aerodynamically efficient shapes for cars and airplanes.

3. ◆ Drag caused by the viscosity of the medium as the molecules along the body's surface move through it is called skin drag or skin friction. It is an important factor in the design of efficient surface materials for cars, airplanes, boat hulls, skis, and swimsuits.

4. Compare lift See Note at aerodynamics

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drag More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing drag

• a drag
• in drag
• look like something the cat dragged in
• main drag
• wild horses wouldn't drag me

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Synonym Usage

See draw.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• outdrag
  verb (used with object)

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• drags
  plural

Participles

• dragging
  present
• dragged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• drag
  simple
• drags
  simple
• have dragged
  perfect
• has dragged
  perfect
• am dragging
  progressive
• are dragging
  progressive
• is dragging
  progressive
• have been dragging
  perfect progressive
• has been dragging
  perfect progressive

Past

• dragged
  simple
• had dragged
  perfect
• was dragging
  progressive
• were dragging
  progressive
• had been dragging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will drag
  simple
• will have dragged
  perfect
• will be dragging
  progressive
• will have been dragging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of drag

First recorded in 1350–1400; 1920–25 drag for def. 20; Middle English; both noun and verb probably from Middle Low German dragge “grapnel,” draggen “to dredge,” derivative of drag- draw; drag defs. 22, 24, 38 are obscurely related to other senses and perhaps a distinct word of independent origin

Explanation

To drag something means to physically pull it, like when you drag your sofa to the other side of the living room in order to get a better view of the TV. Drag can also mean to prolong something. In this case, drag is often followed by the words "out" or "on." You could describe a class that drags on for hours, or try to drag out your homework to get out of doing the dishes. You can also drag someone unwillingly into a discussion or other situation. Anything that's boring and tedious can also be called a drag — like lunches with your great aunt Martha or cleaning the bathroom.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

drag drags dragged dragging

The Kiwi left-hander was being serenaded from the stands as the runs required ticked away, but he had to drag himself from the middle with 44 runs still needed.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

The simulation includes drag from the ocean as well as repeated collisions among the floes.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 18, 2026

If at some point, the market begins to view higher rates as a drag on economic growth, potentially leading to lower earnings estimates, the S&P 500 could face a rather large decline.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

Every 1% appreciation in the won against the dollar could drag Kia’s operating profit by 1.5% to 2%, she adds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

I catch the stray backpack strap with the sole of my decidedly less glamorous sneaker and drag it out of the aisle.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

“For as long as the conflict drags on, the risks to energy supplies and prices will persist,” Hussain said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Parents like John Sr. and Bernadette realize how heavily heroism drags on a person, and the exhaustion of being the first or the only to breathe rare air in exclusive company.

From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026

And nobody’s seen him, but she knows and they’re arguing and the kid comes over, she has a little chair that she drags everywhere.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Four years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine set off an energy crisis, European countries face new questions about natural gas security as the war in the Middle East drags on.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

Eddie happily drags the plate of cakes toward her side of the table, eating the last of the petits fours in a few big bites.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Even as his trial dragged on for two weeks, Walters says, he remained convinced that he would soon be set free.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Industrial output was dragged down by Europe’s largest economies, with production falling 1.5% in Germany and 0.4% in France in July.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

A few weeks ago at the end of a dispiriting workday, I dragged my husband to an outdoor show headlined by The Breeders.

From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026

She said students sometimes grew frustrated as the work dragged on and dust forced them to close the windows.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

My friend’s family had been dragged from their home, and I was expected to sit silently by without saying a word?

From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler

By the end, I was dragging pieces of focaccia through the last orange streaks left in the pan.

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026

At one hearing, Conservative MP Kit Malthouse asked if companies were "dragging their feet" due to "a very strong commercial incentive".

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

We’re hoping that the public, which was never consulted on whether it wanted to reorganize life this way, is at least dragging politicians somewhat in our direction.

From Slate ● Sep. 12, 2026

None of China’s four “little GPU tigers” have turned a sustainable profit, with high research-and-development costs dragging earnings into the red.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

I hear him stomping around above me, something dragging along the ground, bumping on rocks, and then he’s gone.

From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz

Related Words

• draw
• lug
• move
• pull
• tow
• transport
• yank