lag

1 of 7

noun (1)

ˈlag 

plural lags

1

a

: a falling or staying behind : the act or the condition of lagging

This work must go forward without lag.

—Dwight D. Eisenhower

see also jet lag

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

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

… 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

The 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

… 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

2

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

One of the best lag putts Vijay Singh ever stroked made him a back-to-back winner on the PGA Tour …

—The Columbian

3

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

lag

2 of 7

verb (1)

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

Argentina is the world's fifth-largest wine producer but has lagged other countries developing their wine industries for export.

—Clifford Krauss

Repo 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 behind

… my horse, being tired, lagged behind.

—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

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

The 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

2

intransitive : to slacken or weaken gradually : flag

… headachy brunches where the champagne punch tasted sour and conversation lagged.

—John Updike

This 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

3

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

My 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

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

lag

3 of 7

adjective

: last, hindmost

lag

4 of 7

noun (2)

1

: a barrel stave

2

: a stave, slat, or strip (as of wood or asbestos) forming part of a covering for a cylindrical object

lag

5 of 7

verb (2)

lagged; lagging

transitive verb

: to cover or provide with lags

lag

6 of 7

verb (3)

lagged; lagging

transitive verb

1

chiefly British slang : to transport or jail for crime

2

chiefly British slang : arrest

lag

7 of 7

noun (3)

1

chiefly British slang

a

: a person transported for crime

b

: convict

c

: an ex-convict

2

chiefly British slang : a jail sentence : stretch

Synonyms

Verb (1)

• decay
• droop
• emaciate
• fade
• fail
• flag
• go
• languish
• sag
• sink
• waste (away)
• weaken
• wilt
• wither

Adjective

• bottommost
• closing
• concluding
• final
• hindmost
• last
• latest
• latter
• rearmost
• terminal
• terminating
• ultimate

Choose the Right Synonym for lag

delay, procrastinate, lag, loiter, dawdle, dally mean to move or act slowly so as to fall behind.

delay usually implies a putting off of something (such as a beginning or departure).

we cannot delay any longer

procrastinate implies blameworthy delay especially through laziness or apathy.

procrastinates about making decisions

lag implies failure to maintain a speed set by others.

lagging behind in technology

loiter and dawdle imply delay while in progress, especially in walking, but dawdle more clearly suggests an aimless wasting of time.

loitered at several store windows

children dawdling on their way home from school

dally suggests delay through trifling or vacillation when promptness is necessary.

stop dallying and get to work

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

Noun

Woods’ 50-foot lag putt on the par-three eighth slipped 10 feet past the hole, and his 30-foot birdie putt on the ninth came up 6 feet short. —Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2024

The lag effect of that restrictive monetary policy—the Federal Funds rate has been stuck at a more than 23-year high since last summer—is starting to affect the resilient American shopper. —Byryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 15 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Norwegian dialect lagga to go slowly

Noun (2)

probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse lǫgg rim of a barrel

Verb (3)

origin unknown

First Known Use

Noun (1)

circa 1530, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Verb (1)

1530, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

1552, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1672, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb (2)

1870, in the meaning defined above

Verb (3)

circa 1812, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (3)

circa 1812, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing lag

• jet lag
• lag putt
• lag times
• time lag

Kids Definition

lag

1 of 2 noun

ˈlag 

1

: the action or condition of lagging

2

a

: amount of lagging

b

: a time during which lagging continues

lag

2 of 2 verb

lagged; lagging

1

: to stay or fall behind : linger, loiter

2

: to move, function, or develop too slowly

production lagged behind schedule

3

: to slacken little by little : flag

lagger noun

Medical Definition

lag

1 of 2 verb

ˈlag 

lagged; lagging

intransitive verb

: 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

transitive verb

: to lag behind

current that lags the voltage

lag

2 of 2 noun

1

: 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