Advertisement

View synonyms for drag

drag

[ drag ]

verb (used with object)

, dragged, drag·ging.
  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 or on ):

    They dragged the discussion out for three hours.

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


verb (used without object)

, dragged, drag·ging.
  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 by around ):

    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

  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. 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.
  12. Angling.
    1. a brake on a fishing reel.
    2. the sideways pull on a fishline, as caused by a crosscurrent.
  13. Agriculture. a heavy wooden or steel frame drawn over the ground to smooth it.
  14. a stout sledge or sled.
  15. a four-horse sporting and passenger coach with seats inside and on top.
  16. a metal shoe to receive a wheel of heavy wagons and serve as a brake on steep grades.
  17. 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.
  18. Also called comb. Masonry. a steel plate with a serrated edge for dressing a stone surface.
  19. Metallurgy. the lower part of a flask. Compare cope 2( def 5 ).
  20. Slang. influence:

    He claims he has drag with his senator.

  21. 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.

drag

/ 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. often foll byon or out to prolong or be prolonged tediously or unnecessarily

    his talk dragged on for hours

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

    he dragged out his few remaining years

  8. whenintr, usually foll by for 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. drag anchor
    drag anchor (of a vessel) to move away from its mooring because the anchor has failed to hold
  14. drag one's feet informal.
    drag one's feetdrag one's heels to act with deliberate slowness
  15. drag someone's name in the mud
    drag someone's name in the mud to disgrace or defame someone


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 calleddrag 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. angling unnatural movement imparted to a fly, esp a dry fly, by tension on the angler's line
  12. informal.
    a person or thing that is very tedious; bore

    exams are a drag

  13. slang.
    a car
  14. short for drag race
  15. slang.
    1. women's clothes worn by a man, usually by a transvestite (esp in the phrase in drag )
    2. ( as modifier )

      drag show

      a drag club

    3. clothes collectively
  16. informal.
    a draw on a cigarette, pipe, etc
  17. slang.
    influence or persuasive power
  18. slang.
    a street or road

drag

/ 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 liftSee Note at aerodynamics


Discover More

Other Words From

  • out·drag verb (used with object) outdragged outdragging

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of drag1

First recorded in 1350–1400; 1920–25 drag fordef 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

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of drag1

Old English dragan to draw ; related to Swedish dragga

Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

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

    The committee is dragging its feet coming to a decision.

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

Discover More

Synonym Study

See draw.

Discover More

Example Sentences

Though the vast majority of stocks––including beaten down financials and airlines––proved resilient over that period, their numbers and strength weren’t nearly sufficient to offset the drag from the falling tech titans.

From Fortune

How to vote in your stateBut the president’s ratings overall and on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic are in negative territory and are a drag on his candidacy.

If the poll result gets dragged out, or, gasp, gets contested, that will add all kinds of volatility to the markets.

From Fortune

For smaller kids, try dragging a mattress out of the bedroom, propping it against a couch, and encouraging your little ones to scramble to the “peak” at the top.

What had never been done was mobilizing drag artists all over the country in service of getting out the vote.

This breach is an extraordinary emotional drag on the exhausted population.

Is this your first time dressing in drag, or have you ever had an Ed Wood moment?

I went to dinner with Christian and he talked about Guitar Drag and I suddenly realized I was going to write about it.

What it did do was drag him down, as though my shot had dropped him into the dunk tank at the state fair.

Nicki Minaj popularized “yaaasssss” with her song “Yasss Bish” and she claims the pronunciation has roots in drag-queen culture.

We, Watsons, are waiting for him to step forward and drag various dark mysteries into the light of day.

Alcee Arobin and Mrs. Highcamp called for her one bright afternoon in Arobin's drag.

He found such delight in playing that it was frequently necessary to drag him by force from the instrument.

Frenziedly she caught at the heavy oaken table, and began to drag it across the room as Garnache had begged her.

If you take hold of your dress on both sides, in that way, and drag it up so high, you will be set down as a raw country girl.

Advertisement

Related Words

Word of the Day

flabbergast

[flab-er-gast ]

Meaning and examples

Start each day with the Word of the Day in your inbox!

By clicking "Sign Up", you are accepting Dictionary.com Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policies.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


draftydrag artist