drag out
phrasal verb
dragged out; dragging out; drags out
1
: to cause (something) to take more time than necessary
He dragged out the speech much too long.
2
: to force (something, such as a confession) from (someone) : to make (someone) tell one (something)
The teacher eventually dragged a confession out of one of the students.
Doctors sometimes have to drag information out of their patients.
Examples of drag out in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Maersk is temporarily pausing vessel calls and suspending cargo acceptance at Israel’s Port of Haifa as the country’s conflict with Iran drags out.
—
Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 20 June 2025
Death comes in as little as a few weeks or drags out over a few years.
—Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 14 June 2025
There are videos of empty police cars in Los Angeles catching fire, but there are no known examples of people being dragged out of their cars at protests in Los Angeles or at any other protest site as of publication.
—Sophie Clark, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 June 2025
Congress doesn’t want to reward bad behavior, so filing a lot of nonsense motions and dragging out litigation will disqualify fee recovery.
—Guinevere Moore, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for drag out
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Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 20 June 2025
Death comes in as little as a few weeks or drags out over a few years.
—Brendan Quinn, New York Times, 14 June 2025
There are videos of empty police cars in Los Angeles catching fire, but there are no known examples of people being dragged out of their cars at protests in Los Angeles or at any other protest site as of publication.
—Sophie Clark, MSNBC Newsweek, 12 June 2025
Congress doesn’t want to reward bad behavior, so filing a lot of nonsense motions and dragging out litigation will disqualify fee recovery.
—Guinevere Moore, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for drag out
Cite this Entry
“Drag out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drag%20out. Accessed 1 Jul. 2025.
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