Word: drag Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English draggen (“to drag”), early Middle English dragen (“to draw, carry”), confluence of Old English dragan (“to drag, draw, draw oneself, go, protract”) and Old Norse draga (“to draw, attract”); both from Proto-Germanic *draganą (“to draw, drag”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to draw, drag”). Verb sense influenced due to association with the noun drag (“that which is hauled or dragged”), related to Low German dragge (“a drag-anchor, grapnel”). Cognate with Danish drægge (“to dredge”), Danish drage (“to draw, attract”), Swedish dragga (“to drag, drag anchor, sweep”), Swedish draga (“to draw, go”), Icelandic draga (“to drag, pull”). Doublet of draw. Pronunciation: /dɹæɡ/, [ˈdɹʷæɡ], [d͡ʒɹʷæɡ], /dɹaɡ/, [ˈdɹʷaɡ] 1. To pull along a surface or through a medium, sometimes with difficulty. Labels: transitive Example: Let's drag this load of wood over to the shed. Example: The misbehaving child was dragged out of the classroom. 2. To proceed heavily, laboriously, or slowly; to advance with weary effort; to go on lingeringly. Example: Time seems to drag when you're waiting for a bus. Example: The day drags through, though storms keep out the sun. 3. To act or proceed slowly or without enthusiasm; to be reluctant. Example: Dragging yourself out of a warm bed in the early hours of a wintry morning to go for a hike in the woods: It’s not an easy thing for some to do, but the visual treasures that await could be well worth the effort. If the weather conditions and the local flora are just right, you might come across fleeting, delicate frozen formations sprouting from certain plant stems, literally a garden of ice. 4. To draw along (something burdensome); hence, to pass in pain or with difficulty. Example: have dragged a lingering life Example: You aren't going to be able to carry any more stuff. You're dragging around all that junk. 5. To serve as a clog or hindrance; to hold back. Example: A propeller is said to drag when the sails urge the vessel faster than the revolutions of the screw can propel her. 6. To operate a pointing device by moving it with a button held down; to move, copy, etc. (an item) in this way. Example: Drag the file into the window to open it. 7. To unintentionally rub or scrape on a surface. Example: The car was so low to the ground that its muffler was dragging on a speed bump. 8. To hit or kick off target. Example: Arsenal were struggling for any sort of rhythm and Aaron Lennon dragged an effort inches wide as Tottenham pressed for a second. 9. To fish with a dragnet. 10. To search for something, as a lost object or body, by dragging something along the bottom of a body of water. 11. To break (land) by drawing a drag or harrow over it; to harrow. 12. To search exhaustively, as if with a dragnet. Labels: figuratively Example: while I dragged my brains for such a song 13. To roast, say negative things about, or call attention to the flaws of (someone). Labels: slang Example: You just drag him 'cause he's got more money than you. 14. To play at a slower tempo than one is supposed to or than the other musicians one is playing with, or to inadvertently gradually decrease tempo while one is playing. Labels: intransitive 15. To inhale from a cigarette, cigar, etc. Labels: informal, intransitive 16. To drag something on. Labels: Australia, slang, transitive Example: Mate, you're just dragging it now.