Lag

Definition of Lag

Coming tardily after or behind; slow; tardy.

Came too lag to see him buried.

- Shak.

Last; long-delayed; - obsolete, except in the phrase lag end.

Last made; hence, made of refuse; inferior.

One who lags; that which comes in last.

The fag-end; the rump; hence, the lowest class.

The common lag of people.

- Shak.

The amount of retardation of anything, as of a valve in a steam engine, in opening or closing.

(Mach.) A stave of a cask, drum, etc.;

(Zool.) See Graylag.

The failing behind or retardation of one phenomenon with respect to another to which it is closely related; as, the lag of magnetization compared with the magnetizing force (hysteresis); the lag of the current in an alternating circuit behind the impressed electro-motive force which produced it.

Lag of the tide
the interval by which the time of high water falls behind the mean time, in the first and third quarters of the moon; - opposed to priming of the tide, or the acceleration of the time of high water, in the second and fourth quarters; depending on the relative positions of the sun and moon.

Lag screw
an iron bolt with a square head, a sharp-edged thread, and a sharp point, adapted for screwing into wood; a screw for fastening lags.

v. i.

To walk or more slowly; to stay or fall behind; to linger or loiter.

[imp. & p. p. Lagged ; p. pr. & vb. n. Lagging .]

v. t.

To cause to lag; to slacken.

(Mach.) To cover, as the cylinder of a steam engine, with lags. See Lag, n., 4.

One transported for a crime.

v. t.

To transport for crime.

She lags us if we poach.

- De Quincey.

Related Words

afterthought, antedate, arrest, be found wanting, bind, block, blockage, bureaucratic delay, cast out, check, closing, collapse, come short, con, concluding, confine, dalliance, dally, dallying, dawdling, dead time, deceleration, decline, delayage, delayed reaction, deport, detain, detention, diddle, dilatoriness, dillydally, dillydallying, displace, doodle, double take, drag, dragging, ease-off, ease-up, eventual, exile, expatriate, expel, fail, fall away, fall behind, fall short, falter, final, flag, flagging, foredate, gain, get behind, goof off, halt, hang back, hang-up, hinder, hindmost, hindrance, hold back, hold up, holdup, hysteresis, impede, interim, jailbird, jam, keep back, lack, lagging, latest, latter, letdown, letup, linger behind, lingering, logjam, loitering, lollygag, lollygagging, lose ground, loser, make late, minus acceleration, misdate, mistime, moratorium, not answer, not hack it, not make it, not make out, not measure up, not stretch, not suffice, obstruct, obstruction, output lag, paperasserie, pause, piddle, postdate, process lag, procrastinate, procrastination, put off, red tape, red-tapeism, red-tapery, relegate, reprieve, respite, retard, retardance, retardation, retardment, run short, setback, shilly-shally, shilly-shallying, slack-up, slacken, slackening, slow, slow down, slow-up, slowdown, slowing, slowing down, slowness, slowup, slump, stay, stay of execution, stop, stop short, stoppage, suspension, tarry, tarrying, terminal, throughput, tie-up, time constants, time lag, time lead, trail, trail behind, transport, ultimate, wait, want, waste time

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