lag

¹ American  

[lag] / læg /

verb (used without object)

lagged, lagging

1. to fail to maintain a desired pace or to keep up; fall or stay behind.

   After five minutes of hard running, some of them began to lag.

   Synonyms:

   linger, loiter

   Antonyms:

   hasten

2. to move or develop slowly, as toward a goal or objective, or in relation to an associated factor (often followed bybehind ).

   to lag behind in production.

3. to delay or fail in reaching full development.

   The factory lags regularly in making its quota.

4. to hang back; linger; delay.

   The old friends lagged because they wanted to talk some more.

5. to decrease, wane, or flag gradually, as in intensity.

   Interest lagged as the meeting went on.

6. (in video games) to experience a delay between player input or game signals and the in-game manifestation of that action, often due to high network latency.

   I’m lagging so hard that enemies are killing me before I can even attack them.

7. Marbles. to throw one's shooting marble toward a line lag line on the ground in order to decide on the order of play.

8. Billiards, Pool. string.

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verb (used with object)

lagged, lagging

1. to fail to keep up with.

   The industry still lags the national economy.

2. Obsolete. to cause to lag.

noun

1. a lagging or falling behind; retardation.

   Synonyms:

   slowdown

2. a person who lags behind, is the last to arrive, etc.

3. an interval or lapse of time.

   There was a developmental lag in the diffusion of ideas.

4. Digital Technology.

   1. Also called display lag. the delay between a signal input and its display on a screen, as a high-definition television screen or LCD, due to latency in digital data conversion.

   2. Also called input lag. (in video games) a display lag between player input or game signals and the in-game manifestation of that action, due to differences in display refresh rate or controller input.

      To make a competitive speed run, your best display option for minimal lag is still a CRT.

   3. Also called network lag. (in video games) such a display lag due to high network latency.

      If you have an old computer or slow connection, lag makes multiplayer gameplay difficult.

5. Mechanics. the amount of retardation of some motion.

6. Electricity. the retardation of one alternating quantity, as current, with respect to another related alternating quantity, as voltage, often expressed in degrees.

7. Marbles, Billiards, Pool. the act of lagging.

lag ² American  

[lag] / læg /

verb (used with object)

lagged, lagging

1. to send to penal servitude; imprison

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noun

1. a convict or ex-convict.

2. a period or term of penal servitude; prison sentence.

lag ³ American  

[lag] / læg /

noun

1. one of the staves or strips that form the periphery of a wooden drum, the casing of a steam cylinder, or the like.

2. Masonry. a crosspiece between ribs in a centering.

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verb (used with object)

lagged, lagging

1. to line or cover (an excavation) with lagging.

2. to cover with insulation, as a steam boiler, to prevent radiation of heat.

lag ¹ British  

/ læɡ /

verb

1. (often foll by behind) to hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc

2. to fall away in strength or intensity

3. to determine an order of play in certain games, as by rolling marbles towards a line or, in billiards, hitting cue balls up the table against the top cushion in an attempt to bring them back close to the headrail

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noun

1. the act or state of slowing down or falling behind

2. the interval of time between two events, esp between an action and its effect

3. an act of lagging in a game, such as billiards

lag ² British  

/ læɡ /

noun

1. a convict or ex-convict (esp in the phrase old lag )

2. a term of imprisonment

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verb

1. (tr) to arrest or put in prison

lag ³ British  

/ læɡ /

verb

1. (tr) to cover (a pipe, cylinder, etc) with lagging to prevent loss of heat

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noun

1. the insulating casing of a steam cylinder, boiler, etc; lagging

2. a stave or lath

Etymology

Origin of lag¹

First recorded in 1500–50; origin uncertain, probably from Scandinavian: compare Middle Danish lakke, Norwegian lagga “to go slowly”

Origin of lag²

First recorded in 1565–75; origin uncertain

Origin of lag³

First recorded in 1655–60; from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse lǫgg “rim of a barrel,” Swedish lagg “stave”

Explanation

When you can't keep up with your fellow marathon runners, you can say that you lag behind them. The word lag describes a kind of slowness or delay. As a noun, it means a slowing: "The coach was disappointed by the lag in her swimmers' best times that day." When you lag behind someone, you fall back or don't measure up. A student who struggles with math, for example, might say that his grades lag behind his best friend's. In the 1550s, lag meant "last person."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lag lagged lagging

Bachteler moved from San Diego to join Burnley's coaching staff in December 2025 and after a few weeks she thought jet lag and a busy schedule had led to a common cold.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

But the lag time is having a real impact on public health, especially in rural communities with reduced urgent care services.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026

The lag is three to six months, which lands it in the October through January prints — after Thursday’s European Central Bank vote, after the Federal Reserve’s meeting next week.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026

"Thus, there can be some lag in getting subsea cable capacity to feed the upcoming data-centre capacity."

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

I lag behind, watching this procession of hipsters barrel through the lobby.

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman

The increase in their combined net worth was lower than the S&P 500’s return in eight of the past 10 years, and cumulatively over the past decade it has lagged by 1.3 annualized percentage points.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

As he has risen through the system, his outfield play has lagged behind his offensive influence.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Other suppliers lagged far behind: the UAE accounted for 10.8% of India's July imports, Saudi Arabia 9.6%, Venezuela 6.3%, Brazil 5.5%, Oman 5.3% and the US 2.9%.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

When he noticed spots that lagged, he added audience interaction like balloon drops, props and places to “quack like a duck” and “swim like a fish.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

I should have known something was amiss by the way Vonetta lagged behind.

From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia

It’s a fascinating case study in how to market a high-trust product when brand equity is lagging.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

More than 80 performers have signed the letter, with Derry Girls actor Siobhán McSweeney saying she was "deeply worried" that the government was lagging behind.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

Offshore wind power, a complement to solar because it blows overnight, is lagging in California in the face of powerful political opposition.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

An Emerson College poll on Thursday found Talarico slightly lagging among Black voters compared to Texas Democrats’ nominee for governor.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

I dragged myself home at the end of the day, lagging far behind my brothers, who had given up trying to cajole me out of my mood.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

Related Words

• decrease
• diminish
• fail
• fall off
• falter
• slacken
• slow
• trail
• wane