dragline

noun

drag·​line ˈdrag-ˌlīn 

1

: a line used in or for dragging

2

: an excavating machine in which the bucket is attached by cables and operates by being drawn toward the machine

3

: a strong stiff strand of silk produced by a spider especially to form the framework of its web and as a means of lowering itself from and returning to a height

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Jumping spiders, for example, shoot a dragline from their abdomen for stability. —Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 5 Mar. 2015

Male spiders usually produced a dragline anchored to the female's web during courtship, which remained in place while mating. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 25 Apr. 2022

Two gravel washing towers and a dragline that belonged to the family, along with some other unidentified construction tools that built the lake were left on site. —Dallas News, 30 June 2021

In the 1980s and ’90s many mining companies turned to mountaintop removal, a hyper-efficient mix of explosives, draglines and dozers that undoes hundreds of millions of years of geology in minutes. —Washington Post, 13 Feb. 2020

Traditional cranes with clamshell or dragline buckets could do many things also, but not nearly as efficiently as a modern trackhoe. —Edward Lotterman, Twin Cities, 29 Sep. 2019

Tom worked as a dragline operator many years before employment at Broward Schools in the Central Warehouse. —Sun-Sentinel.com, 23 Mar. 2018

Tom worked as a dragline operator many years before employment at Broward Schools in the Central Warehouse. —Sun-Sentinel.com, 23 Mar. 2018

Tom worked as a dragline operator many years before employment at Broward Schools in the Central Warehouse. —Sun-Sentinel.com, 23 Mar. 2018

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Word History

First Known Use

1874, in the meaning defined at sense 1