LAG (lagged, lagging)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: lagged    , lagging   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does lag mean? 

• LAG (noun)
  The noun LAG has 3 senses:

1. the act of slowing down or falling behind

2. the time between one event, process, or period and another

3. one of several thin slats of wood forming the sides of a barrel or bucket

  Familiarity information: LAG used as a noun is uncommon.

• LAG (verb)
  The verb LAG has 4 senses:

1. hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.

2. lock up or confine, in or as in a jail

3. throw or pitch at a mark, as with coins

4. cover with lagging to prevent heat loss

  Familiarity information: LAG used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LAG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of slowing down or falling behind

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

lag; retardation; slowdown

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

delay; holdup (the act of delaying; inactivity resulting in something being put off until a later time)

Derivation:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

The time between one event, process, or period and another

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

interim; lag; meantime; meanwhile

Context example:

meanwhile the socialists are running the government

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

interval; time interval (a definite length of time marked off by two instants)

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

interregnum (the time between two reigns, governments, etc.)

Sense 3

Meaning:

One of several thin slats of wood forming the sides of a barrel or bucket

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

lag; stave

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

slat; spline (a thin strip (wood or metal))

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

barrel; cask (a cylindrical container that holds liquids)

• LAG (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they lag    ... he / she / it lags   
Past simple: lagged   
Past participle: lagged   
-ing form: lagging   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

dawdle; fall back; fall behind; lag

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

follow (to travel behind, go after, come after)

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

drag; drop back; drop behind; get behind; hang back; trail (to lag or linger behind)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

lag (the act of slowing down or falling behind)

laggard; lagger (someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lock up or confine, in or as in a jail

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

gaol; immure; imprison; incarcerate; jail; jug; lag; put away; put behind bars; remand

Context example:

the murderer was incarcerated for the rest of his life

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

confine; detain (deprive of freedom; take into confinement)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They want to lag the prisoners

Sense 3

Meaning:

Throw or pitch at a mark, as with coins

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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

flip; pitch; sky; toss (throw or toss with a light motion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Cover with lagging to prevent heat loss

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

lag pipes

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

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

lagging (insulation used to wrap around pipes or boilers or laid in attics to prevent loss of heat)

 Context examples 

Instead of a tightly correlated change, however, biological responses to the 2002 season varied and, in some cases, lagged behind by years.

(Extreme melt season leads to decade-long ecosystem changes in Antarctica's Dry Valleys, National Science Foundation)

Surprisingly, cells began to form spatial wave patterns, where neighbour cells lag in time slightly behind one another.

(Plants can tell time even without a brain, University of Cambridge)

DNA polymerase alpha is most active in dividing cells, and is primarily involved with lagging strand synthesis.

(DNA Polymerase Alpha, NCI Thesaurus)

This protein is involved in the biosynthesis of RNA primers for the Okazaki fragments made during DNA replication of the lagging strand.

(DNA Primase Small Subunit, NCI Thesaurus)

I noticed, though, that whenever one looked tired and lagged, she let it slip past.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

However, scientific understanding of the proteome has lagged behind that of the genome, partly because of the proteome’s complexities.

(Revealing the human proteome, NIH)

My child, believe me none of us shall lag behind or pause from any fear.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

They lagged behind, while Elizabeth, Kitty, and Darcy were to entertain each other.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

However, walking speed and stride length later in the test period decreased significantly in people who reported more cognitive fatigue, but not in response to lagging physical energy levels.

(Mental, Not Physical, Fatigue Affects Seniors' Walking Ability, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

This friction would have also caused the tides to slightly lag behind their orbital positions.

(Cracks in Pluto's moon could indicate it once had an underground ocean, NASA)