drag

Etymology 1

From Middle English draggen (“to drag”), early Middle English dragen (“to draw, carry”), confluence of Old English dragan (“to drag, draw, draw oneself, go, protract”) and Old Norse draga (“to draw, attract”); both from Proto-Germanic *draganą (“to draw, drag”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to draw, drag”). Verb sense influenced due to association with the noun drag (“that which is hauled or dragged”), related to Low German dragge (“a drag-anchor, grapnel”). Cognate with Danish drægge (“to dredge”), Danish drage (“to draw, attract”), Swedish dragga (“to drag, drag anchor, sweep”), Swedish draga (“to draw, go”), Icelandic draga (“to drag, pull”). Doublet of draw.

noun

1. (physics, uncountable) Resistance of a fluid to something moving through it.
   When designing cars, manufacturers have to take drag into consideration.
2. (by analogy with above) Any force acting in opposition to the motion of an object.
   A high thrust-to-weight ratio helps a rocket to overcome the effects of gravity drag.
3. (countable, foundry) The bottom part of a sand casting mold.
4. (countable) A device dragged along the bottom of a body of water in search of something, e.g. a dead body, or in fishing.
5. (countable, informal) A systematic search for someone over a wide area, especially by the authorities; a dragnet.
   He told me that he was certain that Coates shot at him. We threw out a drag and landed Coates within an hour. June 1920, The Electrical Experimenter, New York, page 151, column 3
6. (countable, music) A double drum-stroke played at twice the speed of the context in which it is placed.
7. (countable, informal) A puff on a cigarette or joint.
   He got high after just one drag of the joint.
   Give me a drag on that roach!
8. (countable, slang) Someone or something that is annoying or frustrating, or disappointing; an obstacle to progress or enjoyment.
   Travelling to work in the rush hour is a real drag.
   December 24, 1865, James David Forbes, letter to Dr. Symonds My lectures […] were only a pleasure to me, and no drag.
   Yes, I wish that for just one time / You could stand inside my shoes / You'd know what a drag it is / To see you 1965, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Positively 4th Street”
9. (countable, slang) A long open horse-drawn carriage with transverse or side seats.
   Alcee Arobin and Mrs. Highcamp called for her one bright afternoon in Arobin's drag. 1899, Kate Chopin, The Awakening
10. (countable, slang) Street, as in 'main drag'.
11. (countable) The scent-path left by dragging a fox, or some other substance such as aniseed, for training hounds to follow scents.
    to run a drag
12. (countable, snooker) A large amount of backspin on the cue ball, causing the cue ball to slow down.
13. A heavy harrow for breaking up ground.
14. A kind of sledge for conveying heavy objects; also, a kind of low car or handcart.
    a stone drag
15. (metallurgy) The bottom part of a flask or mould, the upper part being the cope.
16. (masonry) A steel instrument for completing the dressing of soft stone.
17. (nautical) The difference between the speed of a screw steamer under sail and that of the screw when the ship outruns the screw; or between the propulsive effects of the different floats of a paddle wheel.
18. Anything towed in the water to retard a ship's progress, or to keep her head up to the wind; especially, a canvas bag with a hooped mouth (drag sail), so used.
19. A pulled load.
    A northbound drag of furnace coal on the former South Yorkshire Joint Line crosses the East Coast main line near Black Carr behind Class "O4/1" 2-8-0 No. 63693. 1959 October, “South of Doncaster”, in Trains Illustrated, page 470, photo caption
20. A skid or shoe for retarding the motion of a carriage wheel.
21. Motion affected with slowness and difficulty, as if clogged.
    Had a drag in his walk. c. 1800, William Hazlitt, My First Acquaintance with Poets
22. (uncountable, music) Witch house music.
    “Our music is not like some other types where the energy is back and forth – music considered drag is like giving up oneself, to be pulled and controlled,” she says. 2010-03-08, Scott Wright, quoting Heather Marlatt, “Scene and heard: Drag”, in The Guardian
    Whatever the appellation, these artists are doing some amazing stuff. Haunted house and drag are probably the most apposite terms because the music sounds like ghostly apparitions of old dance tunes, only at half-speed. 2010-09-29, Paul Lester, “New band of the day - No 877: oOoOO”, in The Guardian
    They call this music drag because it's like dance music dragged down by the ponderous weight of existence (there's a Balam Acab track called Heavy Living Things); they call it witch house because it haunts you long after you stop listening. 2010-12-02, Paul Lester, “New band of the day – No 922: Balam Acab”, in The Guardian
    In your own words, what is drag or witch house music? January 24 2011, David Wicik, “Exorcising the Ghost: oOoOO breaks down the buzz about “drag””, in Newcity
23. The last position in a line of hikers.
    Okay, I'll take point, Kate, you take drag. 1999, Dana Stabenow, Hunter's Moon, page 73
24. (billiards) A push somewhat under the centre of the cue ball, causing it to follow the object ball a short way.
25. A device for guiding wood to the saw.
26. (historical) A mailcoach.
27. (slang) A prison sentence of three months.
    1869, A Merchant. Editor: Frank Henderson, Six Years in the Prisons of England The copper knew I did that job, and had me up on suspicion some time after, and gave me a drag (three months) over it. The next bit I did was a 'sixer' (six months), and I escaped from prison in about three weeks after I got it.

verb

1. (transitive) To pull along a surface or through a medium, sometimes with difficulty.
   Let's drag this load of wood over to the shed.
   The misbehaving child was dragged out of the classroom.
   I knew where I didn't want to land so with some aggressive steering I was able to crab into the wind and land successfully on an open plowed farm field some 50 yards west of the hardball road I had seen, next to what seemed at the time to be a T intersection that led off to the east. Although I landed softly, there was a stiff 15-knot wind so I was getting drug a little bit. On my back I dug my heels in and reached up to pop both canopy releases, but on better thought decided against it, as the parachute would probably blow across the road. 2007 May, Carlos Lorch, quoting Dale Zelko, “Blast from the Past: Interview with Lt Colonel Dale Zelko, USAF”, in Nighthawks, volume 5, number 1, archived from the original on 2016-03-04, page 14
2. To move onward heavily, laboriously, or slowly; to advance with weary effort; to go on lingeringly.
   Time seems to drag when you're waiting for a bus.
   a. 1732, John Gay, epistle to a Lady Long, open panegyric drags at best.
   The Irishman is the director’s longest drama, but it never drags. October 31, 2019, A. A. Dowd, “Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro reunite for one last gripping crime epic, The Irishman”, in AV Club
3. To act or proceed slowly or without enthusiasm; to be reluctant.
   Dragging yourself out of a warm bed in the early hours of a wintry morning to go for a hike in the woods: It’s not an easy thing for some to do, but the visual treasures that await could be well worth the effort. If the weather conditions and the local flora are just right, you might come across fleeting, delicate frozen formations sprouting from certain plant stems, literally a garden of ice. 2013 September-October, James R. Carter, “Flowers and Ribbons of Ice”, in American Scientist
4. To draw along (something burdensome); hence, to pass in pain or with difficulty.
   have dragged a lingering life
   You aren't going to be able to carry any more stuff. You're dragging around all that junk. 1995, HAL Laboratory, EarthBound, Nintendo, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
5. To serve as a clog or hindrance; to hold back.
   A propeller is said to drag when the sails urge the vessel faster than the revolutions of the screw can propel her. 1883, William Clark Russell, Sailor’s Language:A collection of Sea-terms and Their Definitions
6. (graphical user interface) To operate a pointing device by moving it with a button held down; to move, copy, etc. (an item) in this way.
   Drag the file into the window to open it.
7. (chiefly of a vehicle) To unintentionally rub or scrape on a surface.
   The car was so low to the ground that its muffler was dragging on a speed bump.
8. (soccer) To hit or kick off target.
   Arsenal were struggling for any sort of rhythm and Aaron Lennon dragged an effort inches wide as Tottenham pressed for a second. 2012, David Ornstein, BBC Sport, "Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham" http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20278355, November 17
9. To fish with a dragnet.
10. To search for something, as a lost object or body, by dragging something along the bottom of a body of water.
11. To break (land) by drawing a drag or harrow over it; to harrow.
12. (figurative) To search exhaustively, as if with a dragnet.
13. (slang) To roast, say negative things about, or call attention to the flaws of (someone).
    You just drag him 'cause he's got more money than you.
14. (intransitive, music) To play at a slower tempo than one is supposed to or than the other musicians one is playing with, or to inadvertently gradually decrease tempo while one is playing.

Etymology 2

Possibly from English drag (“to pull along a surface”) because of the sensation of long skirts trailing on the floor, or from Yiddish טראָגן (trogn, “to wear”)

noun

1. (uncountable, slang) Women's clothing worn by men for the purpose of entertainment.
   I know what "in drag" means; it is the slang for going about in women's clothes. 30 May 1870, “The Men in Women's Clothes”, in The Times, →ISSN, page 13
   With the aid of informers they discovered where the great drag dances were being held and turned their attention thither. … They couldn't, of course, be advertised, but no publicity was needed. The network always managed to reach any one who might want to go and had half-a-crown to spare for a ticket. About three-quarters of the men who attended these dances were in drag. 1968, Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant, London: Cape, →OCLC, page 82
   He performed in drag.
   1. (uncountable, slang, by analogy) Men's clothing worn by women for the purpose of entertainment.
2. (countable, slang) A men's party attended in women's clothing.
   A heterosexual person cannot really break into their [homosexuals'] inner circles. They have parties or "drags" to which only homosexuals are admitted, and at these some generally appear in female dress. 1927, Aaron J. Rosanoff, “Sexual Psychopaths”, in Manual of Psychiatry, 6th edition, New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc., →OCLC, page 203
   This freedom of speech of hers was a kind of masquerade of sexuality, like the rubber breasts homosexuals put on for drags, … 1942, Mary McCarthy, The Company She Keeps, New York: Harcourt Brace and World, →OCLC, page 104
3. (countable, slang) A drag king or drag queen.
   1970-1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure That Mich drag Loretta sent me about 10 pictures of her so I wouldn't think her a "decrepit old lady." But too bad—she looked like someone's biddy aunt.
4. (uncountable, slang) Any type of clothing or costume associated with a particular occupation or subculture.
   corporate drag

verb

1. To perform as a drag queen or drag king.