DRAG (dragged, dragging)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does drag mean? 

• DRAG (noun)
  The noun DRAG has 6 senses:

1. the phenomenon of resistance to motion through a fluid

2. something that slows or delays progress

3. something tedious and boring

4. clothing that is conventionally worn by the opposite sex (especially women's clothing when worn by a man)

5. a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke)

6. the act of dragging (pulling with force)

  Familiarity information: DRAG used as a noun is common.

• DRAG (verb)
  The verb DRAG has 11 senses:

1. pull, as against a resistance

2. draw slowly or heavily

3. force into some kind of situation, condition, or course of action

4. move slowly and as if with great effort

5. to lag or linger behind

6. suck in or take (air)

7. use a computer mouse to move icons on the screen and select commands from a menu

8. walk without lifting the feet

9. search (as the bottom of a body of water) for something valuable or lost

10. persuade to come away from something attractive or interesting

11. proceed for an extended period of time

  Familiarity information: DRAG used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DRAG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The phenomenon of resistance to motion through a fluid

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

drag; retarding force

Hypernyms ("drag" is a kind of...):

resistance (any mechanical force that tends to retard or oppose motion)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "drag"):

sonic barrier; sound barrier (the increase in aerodynamic drag as an airplane approaches the speed of sound)

windage (the retarding force of air friction on a moving object)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something that slows or delays progress

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

too many laws are a drag on the use of new land

Hypernyms ("drag" is a kind of...):

balk; baulk; check; deterrent; handicap; hinderance; hindrance; impediment (something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Something tedious and boring

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

peeling potatoes is a drag

Hypernyms ("drag" is a kind of...):

tediousness; tedium; tiresomeness (dullness owing to length or slowness)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Clothing that is conventionally worn by the opposite sex (especially women's clothing when worn by a man)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

the waitresses looked like missionaries in drag

Hypernyms ("drag" is a kind of...):

article of clothing; clothing; habiliment; vesture; wear; wearable (a covering designed to be worn on a person's body)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

drag; puff; pull

Context example:

he took a drag on his cigarette and expelled the smoke slowly

Hypernyms ("drag" is a kind of...):

aspiration; breathing in; inhalation; inspiration; intake (the act of inhaling; the drawing in of air (or other gases) as in breathing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "drag"):

toke (a puff of a marijuana or hashish cigarette)

Holonyms ("drag" is a part of...):

smoke; smoking (the act of smoking tobacco or other substances)

Derivation:

drag (suck in or take (air))

Sense 6

Meaning:

The act of dragging (pulling with force)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

the drag up the hill exhausted him

Hypernyms ("drag" is a kind of...):

pull; pulling (the act of pulling; applying force to move something toward or with you)

Derivation:

drag (pull, as against a resistance)

drag (draw slowly or heavily)

• DRAG (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pull, as against a resistance

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

These worries were dragging at him

Hypernyms (to "drag" is one way to...):

draw; pull (cause to move by pulling)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "drag"):

pull along; schlep; shlep (pull along heavily, like a heavy load against a resistance)

trail; train (drag loosely along a surface; allow to sweep the ground)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Also:

drag in (force into some kind of situation, condition, or course of action)

Derivation:

drag (the act of dragging (pulling with force))

dragger (someone who pulls or tugs or drags in an effort to move something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Draw slowly or heavily

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

cart; drag; hale; haul

Context example:

haul nets

Hypernyms (to "drag" is one way to...):

draw; pull (cause to move by pulling)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "drag"):

bouse; bowse (haul with a tackle)

underrun (haul onto a boat)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

drag (the act of dragging (pulling with force))

dragger (a fishing boat that uses a trawl net or dragnet to catch fish)

dragger (someone who pulls or tugs or drags in an effort to move something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Force into some kind of situation, condition, or course of action

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

drag; drag in; embroil; sweep; sweep up; tangle

Context example:

don't drag me into this business

Hypernyms (to "drag" is one way to...):

involve (engage as a participant)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Move slowly and as if with great effort

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "drag" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 5

Meaning:

To lag or linger behind

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

drag; drop back; drop behind; get behind; hang back; trail

Context example:

But in so many other areas we still are dragging

Hypernyms (to "drag" is one way to...):

dawdle; fall back; fall behind; lag (hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 6

Meaning:

Suck in or take (air)

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

drag; draw; puff

Context example:

draw on a cigarette

Hypernyms (to "drag" is one way to...):

breathe in; inhale; inspire (draw in (air))

"Drag" entails doing...:

smoke (inhale and exhale smoke from cigarettes, cigars, pipes)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

drag (a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke))

Sense 7

Meaning:

Use a computer mouse to move icons on the screen and select commands from a menu

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

drag this icon to the lower right hand corner of the screen

Hypernyms (to "drag" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 8

Meaning:

Walk without lifting the feet

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

drag; scuff

Hypernyms (to "drag" is one way to...):

scuffle; shamble; shuffle (walk by dragging one's feet)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The children drag to the playground

Sense 9

Meaning:

Search (as the bottom of a body of water) for something valuable or lost

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

drag; dredge

Hypernyms (to "drag" is one way to...):

look for; search; seek (try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence examples:

The men drag the area for animals
The men drag for animals in the area

Sense 10

Meaning:

Persuade to come away from something attractive or interesting

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

He dragged me away from the television set

Hypernyms (to "drag" is one way to...):

persuade (cause somebody to adopt a certain position, belief, or course of action; twist somebody's arm)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody PP

Sense 11

Meaning:

Proceed for an extended period of time

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

drag; drag on; drag out

Context example:

The speech dragged on for two hours

Hypernyms (to "drag" is one way to...):

go; proceed (follow a certain course)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

 Context examples 

The tackle dragged heavily across the rail, increasing its drag as the spar arose more and more out of the water, and the exertion on the windlass grew severe.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It might not be saving them much, but it was something, and I could not bear to sit at my ease and be dragged up at the expense of those noble animals.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Hans still refused to touch the murderer, and sullenly watched Edith drag him across the floor to the men's bunk- room.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and dragged with my nails at the lock.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The next instant he was grappling with Buck on the extreme edge, while Hans and Pete were dragging them back into safety.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

There is tramping of feet overhead, and ropes and chains are dragged along.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

They were dead, and I lived; their murderer also lived, and to destroy him I must drag out my weary existence.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Symptoms can include tremors, voice problems or a dragging foot.

(Dystonia, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

In fact, the wind drags the magnetic field more than 2,000 light-years across - close to the width of the wind itself.

(Galactic Wind Provides Clues to Evolution of Galaxies, NASA)

You have been drinking rum; you have had a stroke, precisely as I told you; and I have just, very much against my own will, dragged you headforemost out of the grave.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)