as in lengthening
to make longer
the highway project was protracted by years of litigation
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for protracting
Verb
-
Spanx AirEssentials Wide-leg Pant These mid-rise, wide-leg pants offer a relaxed fit that creates a leg-lengthening effect.—
Caroline Hughes,
Travel + Leisure,
4 Feb. 2026 -
Below, shop the nine best lengthening mascaras, backed by experts and editors alike.—
Conçetta Ciarlo,
Vogue,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
In fact, extending the lives of the sick and elderly can impose net costs on society’s ledgers, costs which government regulatory analyses typically ignore.—
James Broughel,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
-
The court said the injunction effectively amounted to a universal injunction by extending relief to a sweeping, uncertified class of protesters and observers.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
In the end, Johnson relied on a combination of White House pressure, late-night negotiations and a reluctant coalition of Republicans and Democrats who agreed that prolonging the shutdown would inflict unnecessary harm on federal workers and the broader economy.—
Nik Popli,
Time,
3 Feb. 2026
-
Alongside this, Waight Keller argues that care is also key in prolonging a product’s lifespan.—
Tianwei Zhang,
Footwear News,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Scores of providers sprang up along a corridor stretching west from the San Gabriel Valley through the San Fernando Valley, which now has the highest concentration of hospices in the nation.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Republicans argue the region’s frustrations reflect years of structural failures under Cooper’s disaster management system, stretching back to earlier storms.—
Samantha-Jo Roth,
The Washington Examiner,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Now, decoupling supply chains are driving manufacturing growth in the West once more, electric vehicles and home heat pumps need to be plugged in, and the makers of AI’s large language models have ever-increasing power needs.—
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson,
semafor.com,
6 Feb. 2026
-
The move marks a broader trend from the brand, which has been increasing its visibility to new markets through the world of sports, and, at the moment, none is hotter than that of F1.—
Blake Buettner,
Robb Report,
5 Feb. 2026
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.
Cite this Entry
“Protracting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/protracting. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
