plural lags
1
b
: comparative slowness or delay (as in movement, operation, or development)
In Finland … children begin school at seven. Despite that apparent lag, Finnish students score higher in reading comprehension than students from the UK and the US at age 15.—
Melissa Hogenboom
Melissa Hogenboom
c
: a delay or interval between two related actions, events, etc.
… the day or so lag between the time you deposit a check in your bank and the time the check clears … .—Lee Smith
Lee Smith… when using Bluetooth headphones to watch videos … there can be some noticeable lag between the motion in the picture and the sound from the headphones.—Markkus Rovito
Markkus RovitoThe longer a person is unaware of a positive test, the more time the person has to infect others. Local directors said they are still experiencing unacceptable lag times of as much as a week between test and data entry.—Edmund H. Mahony
Edmund H. Mahony… the enormous lag time between the initial sketches of that new A-line skirt and its arrival in stores.—James Surowiecki
see also time lag
James Surowiecki2
or lag putt golf
: a usually long putt struck with the aim of having the ball stop near the hole
The 18th wasn't a picnic for Parker yesterday. He … was forced to make a good lag to assure his par.—Chris Stevenson
Chris StevensonOne of the best lag putts Vijay Singh ever stroked made him a back-to-back winner on the PGA Tour …—The Columbian
The Columbian3
archaic
: someone or something that lags or is last
The omission of Harrison and Braxton and my being next to the lag [in number of votes] give me some alarm.—Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
lagged; lagging; lags
1
a
transitive + intransitive
: to stay or fall behind : to fail to keep up with others or with a goal, schedule, etc.
A few runners lagged the others.
He was relieved to find that his friend had also lagged by the wayside.—P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. WodehouseArgentina is the world's fifth-largest wine producer but has lagged other countries developing their wine industries for export.—Clifford Krauss
Clifford KraussRepo companies are reportedly excited about the prospect of remotely locking you out of your car if you're lagging on payments.—Beth Wilson
—often used with behindBeth Wilson… my horse, being tired, lagged behind.—Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin… the island's minister of economic affairs cautioned … that Taiwan was lagging behind its target of producing 20 per cent of its power from renewable sources by 2025 …—Joanna Chiu
Joanna Chiu
b
intransitive
: to move, function, or develop with comparative slowness
After Sen. Dole's broadside against the entertainment industry, Time Warner Inc. asked the music industry to develop standards for releasing explicit material and said it would act unilaterally if other companies lagged.—Ellen Graham
Ellen GrahamThe songs … sound a little like he's singing with a digital delay echo, but even a cursory listen reveals that it's not that simple. Sometimes the voices on tape would anticipate him, sometimes they'd lag way behind, sometimes he was a unison chorus.—Kyle Gann
Kyle Gann2
intransitive
: to slacken or weaken gradually : flag
… headachy brunches where the champagne punch tasted sour and conversation lagged.—John Updike
John UpdikeThis music … didn't rush—at least not after a bracingly brisk overture—but never lagged, the textures as airy as a June morning on Coney Island.—Zachary Woolfe
Zachary Woolfe3
transitive + intransitive
golf
: to hit (a golf ball or putt) with the aim of having the ball stop near the hole : to hit a lag putt (see lag entry 1 sense 2)
Woods lagged his first putt to within four feet and then sank his second one to win.—Tim Crothers
Tim CrothersMy chip up onto the green was miserable. I left Bill a 40-foot putt. He lagged and left the ball three feet from the cup.—Giles Tippette
Giles Tippette
lagger
noun
plural laggers
"The men whom you would disturb are in front of you, and not, as you fancy, behind you; it is you who are the lagger, not they."
—Samuel Butler
Samuel Butler
1
: a barrel stave
2
: a stave, slat, or strip (as of wood or asbestos) forming part of a covering for a cylindrical object
lagged; lagging
1
chiefly British slang
: to transport or jail for crime
2
chiefly British slang
: arrest
Synonyms
Examples of lag in a Sentence
Verb (1)
during the fourth quarter the whole team seemed to lag
the tired puppy was lagging behind the rest of the pack
Adjective
we're now in the lag end of the project
Recent Examples on the Web
Sara Holdren, Vulture, 18 Nov. 2024
During that lag time 26 other blockchain addresses claimed fees from Railgun.
—Javier Paz, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
John C. Moritz, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
As the undercard plays out, the streaming giant seems to be struggling to handle the massive influx of traffic, leading to lagging video, freezing and the audio cutting in and out.
—Joe Mutascio, The Indianapolis Star, 16 Nov. 2024
David Beard, Car and Driver, 20 June 2022
And some more good news for lovers of the distinctive fusillade produced by the original Impreza rally cars: this one keeps anti-lag, injecting fuel into the turbocharger to keep it spinning off-throttle.
—Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 21 June 2022
See all Example Sentences for lag 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Noun
The fact is that O’Hara is just warming up, and a feeling of lag settles in on the way to the incitement of his play’s actual premise.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 18 Nov. 2024
During that lag time 26 other blockchain addresses claimed fees from Railgun.
—Javier Paz, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
Verb
The remark came at a Feb. 10 campaign rally in South Carolina when Trump brought up a hypothetical question about whether a NATO nation lagging in its defense obligation could count on U.S. assistance in the face of aggression.
—John C. Moritz, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
As the undercard plays out, the streaming giant seems to be struggling to handle the massive influx of traffic, leading to lagging video, freezing and the audio cutting in and out.
—Joe Mutascio, The Indianapolis Star, 16 Nov. 2024
Adjective
With Baja mode activated, the twin-turbo V-6 engages the turbochargers' anti-lag function, and there's negligible delay in the power delivery during the quick on/off throttle sequences common to desert running.
—David Beard, Car and Driver, 20 June 2022
And some more good news for lovers of the distinctive fusillade produced by the original Impreza rally cars: this one keeps anti-lag, injecting fuel into the turbocharger to keep it spinning off-throttle.
—Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 21 June 2022
See all Example Sentences for lag
Dictionary Entries Near lag
Cite this Entry
“Lag.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lag. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
lag
1 of 2 noun1
: the action or condition of lagging
2
a
: amount of lagging
b
: a time during which lagging continues
Medical Definition
lag
1 of 2 verb
lagged; lagging
: to move, function, or develop with comparative slowness
the child lagged in perceptual development
symptoms may lag behind the radiographic changes—Carol J. Johns & Theresa M. Michele
Carol J. Johns & Theresa M. Michele
: to lag behind
current that lags the voltage
lag
2 of 2 noun1
: the act or the condition of lagging
2
: comparative slowness or retardation (as in growth or development)
3
a
: a space of time especially between related events or phenomena see lag phase
b
: the time between the application of a stimulus and the occurrence of the response it causes
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