# drag

Pronunciation: say "DRAG" /dɹæɡ/

## Verb

1. To pull something along a surface, or through a liquid or gas, often because it is heavy or hard to move.
   - Simple: To pull something along the ground or through water, often because it is heavy or hard to move.
   - _He dragged the canoe up the muddy bank toward the cabin._
   - _Rescue workers had to drag the boat through thick reeds._
2. To move an item on a screen by holding it with a mouse button, touchpad or finger while moving the pointer or finger.
   - Simple: To move something on a screen by holding it with the mouse button or your finger and sliding it.
   - _You can drag the slider to adjust the volume._
   - _He dragged the email into the trash by mistake._
3. To move or proceed slowly and heavily, or to go on for a wearyingly long time.
   - Simple: To go slowly and without energy, or to seem to last far too long.
   - _The lecture seemed to drag on without end._
   - _The procession dragged slowly up the hill._
4. To get someone to go somewhere or take part in something they are reluctant to.
   - Simple: To make someone go somewhere or get involved in something they do not want to.
   - _Her friends had to drag her to the reunion, but she ended up having a great time._
   - _The company was dragged into the lawsuit through no fault of its own._
9. To act as a hindrance or clog; to hold something back.
   - Simple: To slow something down or hold it back like a weight.
   - _Rising debt continued to drag on the company's recovery._
   - _A single weak player can drag down the whole team's performance._
11. To rub or scrape against a surface without meaning to.
   - Simple: To rub or scrape against a surface by accident.
   - _The car's bumper dragged on the steep driveway._
   - _Make sure the gate doesn't drag on the concrete._
16. To publicly criticize or mock someone, calling attention to their flaws. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To make fun of someone or point out their faults in public.
   - _Commenters dragged the company for its tone-deaf advertisement._
   - _She knew her friends would drag her for the embarrassing photo._
17. To inhale smoke from a cigarette, cigar, or similar. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To breathe in smoke from a cigarette or cigar.
   - _He dragged deeply on the cigarette and stared out the window._
   - _They drag on their cigarettes between takes._
18. To perform onstage as a drag queen or drag king, in costume and persona.
   - Simple: To dress up and perform as a drag queen or drag king.
21. To pull a net, hook, or similar device along the bottom of a body of water to search for something or to catch fish.
   - Simple: To pull a net or hooks along the bottom of a lake or river to find something or catch fish.
   - _At dawn, the rescue crew began dragging the river below the bridge with grappling hooks._
   - _Authorities decided to drag the canal after a witness reported seeing a car go in._
23. To search exhaustively, as though combing an area with a dragnet.
   - Simple: To search through something thoroughly and completely, leaving nothing out.

## Noun

5. A force that acts against a moving object and slows it, especially the resistance of air or water.
   - Simple: A force, like air or water pushing back, that slows down something moving through it.
   - _Engineers reshaped the wing to cut drag at high speeds._
   - _Swimmers shave their bodies to lower drag in the water._
6. A performer who adopts an exaggerated gendered persona (a drag king or drag queen) for entertainment. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A performer who entertains people by acting out a big, showy version of how men or women look and behave.
7. A person or thing that is annoying, disappointing, or gets in the way of enjoyment. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person or thing that is boring or annoying and spoils the fun.
   - _Cleaning the garage all weekend turned out to be a total drag._
   - _He's a bit of a drag at parties, always complaining about something._
8. Clothing typical of another gender, worn for entertainment, especially in a stage performance. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Clothes usually worn by the other sex, put on for a show or for fun.
   - _She designs costumes for performers who appear in drag._
   - _His drag is famous for its glittering gowns and towering wigs._
13. The practice of performing, as art or entertainment, with costume, makeup, and mannerisms that exaggerate gender or toy with it.
   - Simple: A kind of art and entertainment where performers use costumes, makeup, and big, showy acting to play with gender.
   - _In our city, drag has moved from tiny nightclubs to sold-out theaters._
   - _For many performers, drag is a way to explore identity as much as a way to entertain._
14. An impediment that weighs something down and hampers its progress, growth, or performance.
   - Simple: Something that slows a thing down and holds it back from growing, moving forward, or doing well.
   - _Weak overseas demand remained a drag on the company's earnings for a third straight quarter._
   - _The hospital's aging computer system had become a serious drag on how quickly patients could be seen._
10. A short contest of acceleration between vehicles racing side by side down a straight track from a standing start; a drag race. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A short race where cars speed up side by side on a straight track, starting from a stop.
   - _The two cars ran a quarter-mile drag, and the Mustang won by a fender._
   - _The local strip runs drags for street-legal cars every Friday night._
12. A street, particularly the main road running through a town or city. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A street, especially the main road through a town.
   - _The town's main drag was lined with diners and motels._
   - _Tourists wandered along the drag, peering into shop windows._
15. A single pull of smoke inhaled from a cigarette or joint. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A breath of smoke taken in from a cigarette.
   - _He took a deep drag on his cigarette before answering._
   - _After a quick drag, she stubbed out the joint._
19. A load that is pulled or hauled along.
   - Simple: A heavy load that is pulled along behind something.
20. Movement marked by slowness and difficulty, as though clogged or held back.
   - Simple: Slow, difficult movement, as if something is holding it back.
   - _Twelve hours into the shift, a drag had crept into her movements, and even lifting a tray felt like wading through mud._
   - _There was a heavy drag to his steps as he climbed the final slope._
22. A device pulled along the bottom of a body of water to search for something, such as a body, or to catch fish.
   - Simple: A tool pulled along the bottom of a lake or river to find or catch things.
   - _They lowered the drag and pulled it carefully across the riverbed._
   - _The fishing boat hauled in its drag, heavy with mud and weeds._
24. A systematic search for someone over a wide area, especially one carried out by the authorities. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: A wide search for someone, often a wanted or missing person, organized by police or other officials.
25. Any outfit or costume that marks someone as belonging to a particular profession or subculture. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Clothing or a costume linked to a certain job or group.
   - _Off duty, the lawyer traded his courtroom drag for jeans and a T-shirt._
   - _The bikers arrived in their usual leather drag._

## Other meanings

- (noun) A scent trail left by dragging a fox or some other substance such as aniseed along the ground, used to train hounds to follow scents.
- (noun) A party for men attended in women's clothing.
- (noun) The position at the very back of a line of hikers.
- (noun) A jail or prison term lasting three months.
- (noun) In metal casting, the lower half of a sand mold, which sits beneath the upper half called the cope.
- (noun) In drumming, a pair of quick grace notes played at double the speed of the surrounding rhythm, usually leading into a main stroke.
- (noun) A long, roofless carriage pulled by horses, with seats running across it or along its sides.
- (noun) Strong backspin applied to the cue ball so that it loses speed as it travels.
- (noun) A weighty toothed frame dragged over a field to break clods of soil.
- (noun) A platform on runners pulled along to move weighty things, or a cart built close to the ground for the same job.
- (noun) A steel tool with saw-like teeth used to give soft stone its final smooth finish.
- (noun) Lag of a propeller behind a sailing steamship that is moving faster than the propeller would drive it, or uneven thrust across the blades of a paddle wheel.
- (noun) Gear trailed in the water from a vessel to slow it down or hold its bow into the wind, often a hoop-mouthed canvas sack called a drag sail.
- (noun) A metal shoe or block placed under a carriage wheel to slow it, especially when going downhill.
- (noun) Witch house, a dark electronic music genre with slowed beats and eerie, hazy sounds.
- (noun) A stroke hitting the cue ball slightly below center so that it trails the object ball for a short distance.
- (noun) In a sawmill, a mechanism that feeds logs or timber toward the saw blade.
- (noun) A horse-drawn coach that carried mail along with passengers.
- (verb) In sports, to send a shot or kick wide of the goal or target, usually by pulling it to one side.
- (verb) To break up soil by pulling a harrow across it.
- (verb) To play behind the beat, slower than intended or than the rest of the band, or to slow down gradually without meaning to.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–5, 7, 9, 11–12, 14–17, 19–24** — Old English dragan ("to drag, draw") and Old Norse draga ("to draw, attract") blended to give Middle English draggen. Both trace to Proto-Germanic *draganą and, on the traditional account, to Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ-, meaning "to draw, drag." The noun drag ("something hauled") also shaped the verb, and draw is a doublet.
**Meanings 6, 8, 10, 13, 18, 25** — Two origins have been suggested. The feel of long skirts trailing on the floor may have prompted a link with the English verb drag ("to pull along a surface"), or the source may be Yiddish טראָגן (trogn, "to wear").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/drag (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).