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

Even then, there will be a lag before energy is flowing freely through the strait and pressure on energy prices are eased.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

However, higher crude tanker freight rates in 3Q are expected to lift its unit AET’s earnings in 4Q with a lag, while seasonally stronger rates could sustain performance into 1Q 2027, he adds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

Soon after the research began circulating, I focused one my columns on a list of 22 stocks that the study would have concluded were good bets to lag the market in 2026.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

Specialty lamps are already sold for other biological purposes, including helping people cope with disruptions to natural circadian rhythms such as jet lag.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026

Like, who would want to lag behind on such a beautiful day, on such a lovely hike?

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

The company recently told investors that its second-quarter revenue growth lagged behind Anthropic’s, disappointing some shareholders, The Wall Street Journal reported.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

This chart demonstrates the lagged effect of three of these contractionary forces: dollar strength and rising oil prices and long-bond yields.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

Wrist-based tracking during cycling and Pilates lagged behind the Whoop and Apple Watch.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

On the other hand, large value funds tied to other benchmarks, which had lower exposure to the hottest memory stocks, lagged behind iShares Russell 1000 Value.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

That Garret Charles has chosen me to humiliate, probably to vent his exhaustion at being jet lagged or something.

From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle

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

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

Last week, fresh official data showed wage growth coming in at 3.2 percent year-on-year, lagging inflation and meaning that most people were seeing their income shrink in real terms.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

Meta is currently lagging behind in the AI race and trying to catch up to Anthropic and OpenAI, which have the most advanced AI models.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

When Samir looked back and saw the donkey, the pack mule, and me lagging behind, he slowed to a walk.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

Related Words

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