time lag
noun
variants
or less commonly time-lag
plural time lags also time-lags
: an interval of time between two related phenomena or events
… there is a time lag between the companies' statements and the data captured in the department's jobs report.—
Sarah Chaney Cambon
Sarah Chaney CambonGiven the usual time lags in book publishing and the rush of recent discoveries, the book is extraordinarily up to date …—James Cornell
James CornellThere is frequently a time-lag between word and thing. Thus atomic bomb was coined by H. G. Wells in 1914, though the first explosion took place at Alamogordo, New Mexico, in 1945.—Geoffrey Hughes
Geoffrey HughesExamples of time lag in a Sentence
There's a time lag between when you see a stop sign and when your foot steps on the brake.
Recent Examples on the Web
According to her research, traditional fashion weeks lead to overproduction, and the time lag between the reveal of designs during traditional fashion weeks and availability leads to a disconnect that alienates young generations.
—Miles Socha, Footwear News, 27 Mar. 2025
Having the FPVs with the assault troops cuts that time lag to seconds.
—David Hambling, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025
The researchers have already developed and begun testing several different versions of sweat sensors beyond the one described last week; a consequence of the time lag between publishing research results and making progress in the lab.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Nov. 2016
That multiyear time lag in the analogy reflects the yoctosecond time lag between the collision and your ability to capture it, correct?
—Henry Carnell, Quanta Magazine, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for time lag
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Miles Socha, Footwear News, 27 Mar. 2025
Having the FPVs with the assault troops cuts that time lag to seconds.
—David Hambling, Forbes, 27 Feb. 2025
The researchers have already developed and begun testing several different versions of sweat sensors beyond the one described last week; a consequence of the time lag between publishing research results and making progress in the lab.
—IEEE Spectrum, 28 Nov. 2016
That multiyear time lag in the analogy reflects the yoctosecond time lag between the collision and your ability to capture it, correct?
—Henry Carnell, Quanta Magazine, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for time lag
Cite this Entry
“Time lag.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/time%20lag. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share