lag

1 of 7

noun (1)

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

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
c
: an ex-convict
2
chiefly British slang : a jail sentence : stretch
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
The median annual income for women is still yet to catch up to the average for men in 2019, suggesting more than a five-year lag in pay parity. Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2024 Paid streaming lags in Japan with less than 30% market share. Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 24 Oct. 2024
Verb
Despite this recent strong performance, small caps are still lagging their large-cap counterparts for the year. Fred Imbert, CNBC, 17 Oct. 2024 And employee resource groups are a great way to kick it off if your organization is lagging, said Grace Zuncic, chief people and impact officer at outdoor apparel and gear retailer Cotopaxi. Alena Botros, Fortune, 17 Oct. 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 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'lag.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of lag was circa 1530

Dictionary Entries Near lag

Cite this Entry

“Lag.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lag. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

lag

1 of 2 noun
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
lagged; lagging

intransitive verb

: to move, function, or develop with comparative slowness
the child lagged in perceptual development
symptoms may lag behind the radiographic changesCarol 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

More from Merriam-Webster on lag

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