dræɡ v. & n. --v. (dragged, dragging) 1 tr.
pull along with effort or
difficulty. 2 a tr.
allow (one's
feet, tail, etc.) to
trail along
the ground. b intr. trail along the ground. c intr. (of
time etc.) go or pass heavily or slowly or tediously. 3 a intr. (usu. foll. by for)
use a
grapnel or drag (to
find a drowned
person or
lost object). b tr.
search the
bottom of (a
river etc.) with grapnels, nets, or drags. 4 tr. (often foll. by to) colloq.
take (a person to a
place etc.,
esp.
against his or
her will). 5 intr. (foll. by
on, at)
draw on (a
cigarette etc.). 6 intr. (often foll. by on)
continue at
tedious length. --n. 1 a an
obstruction to
progress. b Aeron. the
longitudinal retarding force exerted by
air. c
slow motion; impeded progress. d an
iron shoe for retarding a horse-drawn
vehicle downhill. 2 colloq. a
boring or
dreary person,
duty,
performance, etc. 3 a a strong-smelling lure
drawn before hounds as a
substitute for a
fox. b a
hunt using
this. 4 an
apparatus for dredging or recovering drowned persons etc.
from under water. 5 = drag-net. 6 sl. a draw on a cigarette etc. 7 sl. a women's
clothes worn by
men. b a party at
which these are worn. c clothes in
general. 8 an
act of dragging. 9 a sl. a
motor car. b (in full drag race) an
acceleration race
between cars usu. for a
quarter of a
mile. 10 US sl.
influence, pull. 11 US sl. a
street or road (the main drag). 12
hist. a
private vehicle like a
stagecoach, drawn by
four horses. ødrag
anchor (of a ship)
move from a moored
position when the anchor fails to hold. drag-anchor n. =
sea anchor. drag one's feet (or heels) be deliberately slow or
reluctant to act. drag-hound a
hound used to hunt with a drag. drag in
introduce (a subject) irrelevantly. drag-line an excavator with a
bucket pulled in by a
wire rope. drag-net 1 a
net drawn
through a river or
across ground to trap fish or game. 2 a
systematic hunt for criminals etc. drag
out protract. drag
queen sl. a
male homosexual transvestite. drag up colloq. 1 deliberately
mention (an
unwelcome subject). 2 rear (a child)
roughly and without proper training. [ME f. OE dragan or ON draga DRAW]