▪ I. drag, v.
(dræg)
Also 5–6 dragge.
[Not known before 15th c. A derivative of OE. draᵹan, or ON. draga (Sw. draga, Da. drage) to draw. Perh. a special northern dialect-form in which the g has been preserved instead of forming a diphthong with the prec. a, as in English generally: cf. Jos. Wright, Dialect of Windhill 102. See also drug v.1]
I. 1. a. trans. To draw or pull (that which is heavy or resists motion); to haul; hence to draw with force, violence, or roughness; to draw slowly and with difficulty; to trail (anything) along the ground or other surface, where there is friction or resistance.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 130/1 Draggyn or drawyn, trajicio. 1570 Levins Manip. 10/17 To Drag, extrahere. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. iii. 14 The bodies shall be dragg'd at my horse heeles. 1611 Bible John xxi. 8 The other disciples came..dragging the net with fishes. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 260 The arch foe subdu'd Or Captive drag'd in Chains. 1726 Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 244 Aligators..dragg'd him to the Bottom, and there devour'd him. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 315 Dragging a ponderous equipage over the rugged pavement. 1883 Froude Short Stud. IV. i. x. 124 To drag him off as a prisoner. 1896 Daily News 9 June 9/6 A ‘shot’ tint..is produced by sparsely ‘dragging’ a little colour over the surface. |
b. Said of moving the body or limbs with difficulty, or of allowing a member to trail. Also
fig.,
esp. in
phr. to drag one's feet (
orig. U.S.), to delay deliberately, hold back deliberately.
| 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. xviii. 105 We dragge our winges after vs as they say. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 644 [The Snake] retires. He drags his Tail. 1735 Somerville Chase iii. 146 His Brush he drags, And sweeps the mire impure. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville II. 228 So reduced that they could scarcely drag themselves along. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. i. 24 Four wretched animals, who can hardly drag themselves. a 1897 Mod. I could scarcely drag one foot after the other. 1946 Life 20 May 69/1 The Soviets are frankly ‘dragging their feet’ in making the European peace in order to prolong chaos. 1948 News Chron. 16 Sept. 1/3 He indignantly denied that the Government was ‘dragging its feet’ as it had been suggested in the American Press. 1950 Hansard Commons 28 Mar. 197 It is widely thought..in America that the British Government are lacking in zeal for the whole plan—‘dragging their feet’ is, I believe, the American expression. 1970 Times 24 Mar. 12/1 Many local authorities drag their feet. They wait for their sewage works to become..overloaded. 1970 New Scientist 4 June 480/1 Many authorities are dragging their heels in setting up the zones. |
c. Naut. to drag the anchor: ‘To trail the anchor along the bottom after it is loosened from the ground, by the effort of the wind or current upon the ship.’ (Crabb, 1823.)
| 1694 Acc. Sev. Late Voy. ii. (1711) 11 The wind turned to North-west and west, and the single Anchor was dragg'd by the Ship. 1726 Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 340 [We] threw out our Anchors..but the Wind increasing, we dragg'd 'em. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), To drag the Anchors, implies the effort of making the anchor come home, when the violence of the wind, &c. strains the cable. |
d. intr. for refl. = passive.
| 1839 Marryat Phant. Ship xxiii, The anchor still dragged, from..bad holding-ground. |
e. trans. To take or escort (a person) to a particular place, event, etc.,
esp. against his will.
colloq.| 1924 P. Marks Plastic Age 136 No freshman was allowed to attend the Prom, but along with the other men who weren't ‘dragging women’ Hugh walked the streets and watched the girls. 1925 W. Deeping Sorrell & Son xxxviii. 385 ‘Sorry to drag you off like this.’ ‘Do you think I mind? —It was I who dragged you away.’ 1952 J. Cannan Body in Beck vii. 142 In the evening I was dragged to an Olde Tyme Dance in the Town Hall. |
f. To pull
on or
at (a cigarette); to inhale (cigarette smoke).
colloq. (
orig. U.S.). (
Cf. pull v. 12 b.)
| 1919 H. Leverage White Cipher viii. 121 He waited and dragged at the cigarette. 1926 L. H. Nason Chevrons (1927) x. 306 Eadie dragged on the cigarette. 1957 H. Croome Forgotten Place xi. 139 He lit one cigarette from the butt of another and dragged at it nervously. |
2. fig. Said of other than physical force, or local motion.
to drag in (
drag into), to introduce (a subject) in a forced manner, or unnecessarily.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 19 What impediments Drag backe our expedition. 1611 ― Wint. T. i. ii. 24 My Affaires Doe euen drag me home-ward. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 716 Dragg'd back again by cruel Destinies. 1725 Watts Logic ii. iii. §4 (3) A writer of great name drags a thousand followers after him into his own mistakes. 1853 Bright Sp. India 3 June, Everything that could possibly be dragged into the case. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) II. vii. 4 His habit of dragging in the most irrelevant tales. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 479 His pleasure is to drag words this way and that. 1876 F. E. Trollope Charming Fellow II. ix. 124 To know why she must be dragged out to these people's stupid parties. |
3. a. intr. To hang behind with a retarding tendency; to lag in the rear.
| 1494 Fabyan Chron. vi. clxxix. 176 That none shuld dragge or tary after his hoost. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 108 They y{supt} draggeth behynde & goth but slowly forward in y⊇ iourney of perfeccion. 1530 Palsgr. 526/1 Thou draggest alwayes, tu fais tousjours la queue. |
b. To lag behind in singing or playing.
| ? a 1500 [see dragger 1]. 1526 [see dragging vbl. n.]. 1863 Spectator 4 July 2203/1 The chorus..‘dragged’ unmistakeably in one or two passages. Mod. The quartet was not sung in time, the tenor dragged. |
4. intr. To trail, to hang with its weight, while moving or being moved; to move with friction on the ground or surface.
| 1666 Pepys Diary 12 June, Only for a long petticoat dragging under their men's coats, nobody could take them for women. 1697 Dryden æneid vi. 753 Of sounding lashes, and of dragging chains. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 129 In Architecture, a Door is said to drag, when in opening and shutting it hangs upon the Floor. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 155 To raise the Door that it drag not. 1820 Shelley Orpheus 108 Elms, dragging along the twisted vines. 1820 Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 119 There is the least colour possible used; the pencil drags. 1896 Daily News 23 July 8/5 The overturned coach dragged along the permanent way, and suffered considerable damage. |
5. trans. To protract or continue tediously; usually
drag on. Also
to drag out, to protract to a tedious end.
| 1697 Dryden æneid ii. 877 'Tis long since I..have dragg'd a ling'ring life. a 1710 E. J. Smith (J.), Oh; can I drag a wretched life without him? 1842 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (ed. 4) 315 Dragging out a painful existence. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. xxvi. 308 The events of the day drag themselves on tediously in such a country house. 1878 R. B. Smith Carthage 488 [It] dragged on a wretched existence for some centuries. 1892 Black & White 2 Apr. 424/2 Like too many vocalists..[he] ‘dragged’ certain passages until all sense of time was lost. |
6. intr. To advance or progress slowly and painfully; to be tediously protracted; to become tedious by protraction.
to drag on, along: to go on with painful or wearisome protraction.
| 1735 Pope Ep. Lady 29 Long open panegyrick drags at best. 1795 Southey Vis. Maid Orleans iii. 290 He shall not drag Forlorn and friendless, along life's long path. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. xxxii, The day drags through though storms keep out the sun. 1830 Examiner 472/2 He..continued to drag round the course till he had made sixty-five circuits. 1836 Dickens Let. 23 Jan. (1965) I. 120, I did set to work yesterday, and dragged on as well as I could. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. i. (1889) 5 A correspondence..had already lasted through the long vacation..without sensibly dragging. |
II. To use or put a drag to.
7. a. trans. To draw some contrivance over the bottom of (a river, etc.), so as to bring up any loose matter; to dredge; to sweep with a dragnet; to search by means of a drag or grapnel as for the body of a person drowned. Also
fig.| 1577 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 392 Such freemen..shall..scoure, clense, and dragge..all the ryvers. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Draguer l'ancre, to drag, or sweep the bottom, for an anchor which is lost. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) ii. xviii, After having dragged the whole neighbourhood for every man, woman and child. 1847 Tennyson Princ. iv. 136 While I dragg'd my brains for such a song. |
b. absol. To use a grapnel or drag; to use a drag-net; to dredge.
| 1530 Palsgr. 526/1 Cannest thou dragge for fysshe, scays tu bien pescher pour les poyssons? 1630 in Descr. Thames (1758) 77 No Draggerman that..doth use to drag for Shrimps. 1768 G. Washington Writ. (1889) II. 241 Went to my Plantation..and dragd for Sturgeon & catchd one. 1790 Trans. Soc. Arts VIII. 84 Bricks are said to be sometimes raised by the fishermen dragging off this coast. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v. Creeper, A small grapnel..for dragging for articles dropped overboard. |
c. trans. To catch with a drag-net or dredge.
| 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 49 This is the place where they drag Pearl. 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. i. vi. 113 Go drive the Deer, and drag the finny prey. |
8. To break up (the surface of lands, clods, etc.) with a drag or heavy harrow.
| a 1722 Lisle Observ. Husb. (1757) 101 Ground which I had ploughed, thwarted and dragged. 1828 Webster, Drag 2. To break land by drawing a drag or harrow over it; to harrow; a common use of the word in New-England. 1846 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VII. i. 51 The lands are dragged with a heavy crab-harrow. |
9. a. To put a drag upon (wheels or vehicles); to retard as by a drag.
| 1829 Southey Lett. IV. 156 Our endeavours must be to drag the wheels. 1884 Law Times 6 Dec. 97 The wheels of the waggons were chained and breaks applied, and these dragged wheels wore the road more rapidly. |
b. Austral. and
N.Z. slang. (See
quots.)
| 1939 in Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. (1961) 1071/2. 1941 Baker N.Z. Slang v. 39 From the New Zealand shearing sheds came those effective expressions to drag the chain and swing the gate, phrases applied to the slowest and the fastest shearer in a shed respectively. 1941 ― Dict. Austral. Slang 25 Drag the chain, to be slow, to be inferior, to ‘tail’ the field in any work or contest. 1959 G. Slatter Gun in my Hand 91 Stop dragging the chain and have one with me. |
10. Criminals' slang.
a. To rob vehicles.
Cf. drag n. 8 a,
dragger 3.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Dragsman, a thief who follows the game of dragging. 1936, 1938 [see dragging vbl. n.]. |
b. trans. To arrest.
| 1924 E. Wallace Room 13 ii. 31 After they dragged you I did some hard thinking. 1928 ― Gunner xxii. 185 If you particularly want him dragged, you'll tell me what I can drag him on. |
11. (From
drag n. 6 a.) To follow the line of scent of (an animal); to trail.
| 1773 Washington Diary 22 Dec. (1925) II. 133 Went out after Breakfast with the Dogs, dragd a fox an hour or two, but never found [it]. 1786 Ibid. 9 Feb. III. 12 Never got a fox afoot, tho I dragged one to Mr. Robt. Alexander's Pocoson. |
III. 12. colloq. to drag up: to rear roughly or without delicacy: to bring up ‘anyhow’.
| a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Dragg'd up, as the Rakes call it, educated or brought up. 1802 M. Moore Lascelles II. 5 Lavinia..has been wretchedly dragged up by the old curate. 1826 Lamb Elia Ser. ii. Pop. Fallacies, Poor people..do not bring up their children; they drag them up. 1867 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. Ser. ii. III. ii. 532 They must be tenderly reared and not ‘dragged up’, as the saying is. |
13. to drag along, on: see 6;
drag in: see 2;
drag on, out: see 5.
Hence
dragged (
drægd),
ppl. a.;
esp. (
colloq.) in sense ‘physically exhausted’; also
dragged out.
| 1651 H. More 2nd Lash in Enthus. Tri. (1656) 195 The disjoynted limbs of dragg'd Hippolytus. 1831 Seba Smith Life J. Downing (1834) 118 The poor Huntonites seemed to be a most dragged out. 1938 J. Steinbeck Long Valley 138 I'm kind of dragged out. 1866 Lowell Lett. (1894) I. 374, I needed some more pungent food in my rather dragged-out condition. 1884 [see 9]. 1893 R. Kipling Many Invent. 21 The seafog rolled back from the cliffs in trailed wreaths and dragged patches. 1962 K. Orvis Damned & Destroyed vii. 49 ‘I'm dragged,’ she said. ‘Real dragged.’ 1963 Sunday Express 13 Oct. 5/7 ‘She is having {oqq}dragged{cqq} walls—the latest technique in distressed paintwork.’ ‘Distressing’ is a decorator's term for applying a top coat of the paint so that the tone of the undercoat shines through. 1965 House & Garden Feb. 47/2 The bedroom..has walls of pale aquamarine dragged paint. |
Senses 12, 13 in
Dict. become 13, 14. Add:
[I.] 12. [See sense 1 f of the
n.]
intr. To take part in a drag race.
N. Amer. slang.
| 1950 M. Bradley Let. in Hot Rod Mag. Jan. 28/3 There ought to be a place to drag in every city... There would be no excuse to drag on the streets. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 17 Apr. 16/2 Joggers are considered antisocial beings by certain groups... I have been pelted with eggs..by a passing car and challenged to drag by cars with engines in full rev. |
▸
trans. Computing. In a graphical user interface: to move or copy (an image, icon, text, etc.) across a display screen using a mouse or similar device; to move the borders of (a window, graphic, etc.) in order to alter its dimensions. Also
intr.| 1983 Byte Feb. 33 Finally, I pick up the title with the cursor, ‘drag’ it to a new location and leave it there. 1990 Computer Buyer's Guide & Handbk. vi. 63/2 Columns are resized by merely dragging their borders with the mouse. 1997 Jerusalem Post (Nexis) 29 June 5 The user is asked to identify three milk cartons, five apple cores and so on, and drag them into an on-screen trash can. 2001 Computer Music May (Getting Started Suppl.) 17/1 Adding these videos to your arrangement is simple: simply drag your.avi files onto new tracks in the arrangement area. |
▪ II. drag, n. (
dræg)
Also 4–7
dragge, 6–7
dragg. See also
drug n.2 [mainly f. drag v.; but some of the applications may have been originally introduced from other langs.: cf. MLG. dragge drag-anchor, grapnel, Sw. dragg grapnel, creeper, drag-not drag-net.] 1. Something heavy that is used by being dragged along the ground or over a surface.
a. A heavy kind of harrow used for breaking up ground or breaking clods; a drag-harrow.
| 1388–9 Abingdon Acc. (Camden) 57, ij draggis cum dentibus ferreis. 1533 J. Stevard in Weaver Wells Wills (1890) 48 My dragge, olde plowe beme, my yokes and my ropes. 1552 Huloet, Dragge or instrument of husbandry with yron teeth to breake cloddes, some do cal it an harrowe. 1682 J. Collins Making of Salt 15 Then the Earth appears in Clods, which they Harrow, and bring on a Drag, and a Rowle. 1821 Dwight Trav. II. 465 A large and strong harrow; here called a drag, with very stout iron teeth. 1875 A. Smith Hist. Aberdeensh. II. 1120 The drag can easily be converted into a harrow, simply by changing the tines. |
† b. A float or raft for conveyance of goods by water: see
quot. 1607.
Obs.| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3616 Dresses dromowndes and dragges, and drawene upe stonys. 1431 Act 9 Hen. VI, c. 5 En Flotes autrement appellez dragges [16th c. transl., flotes commonly called dragges]. 1607 Cowell Interpr., Drags seem to be wood or timber so joyned together, as swimming..upon the water, they may bear a..load. |
c. An overland conveyance without wheels; a rough kind of sledge: see
dray1, and
cf. drug n.2| 1576 Act 18 Eliz. c. 10 §4, Sleades, carres, or drags, furnished for..repairing..high wayes. 1611 Cotgr., Train..a sled, a drag or dray without wheeles. 1750 R. Pococke Trav. (1888) 135 They have drags for drawing up the side of steep fields. 1884 Century Mag. Jan. 446/2 Two skids fastened together make a ‘drag’, or ‘sledge’. 1895 Capt. King Under Fire 452 The Indian households were piling their goods and chattels..on travois and drag of lodge-poles. |
d. A kind of vehicle; the application has varied, and it is often not distinguished from a
brake or
break; but in strict English use, applied to a private vehicle of the type of a stage coach, usually drawn by four horses, with seats inside and on the top.
Cf. also
dragsman 1.
| 1755 Johnson, Drag..a kind of car drawn by the hand. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Drag, a cart. 1820 Sporting Mag. VI. 79 The prads are put to, and the drag is shoved forward. 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 86 Since she put down her tandem drag. 1837 Thackeray Ravenswing iii. (1887) 173 Behind her came..a drag, or private stage-coach, with four horses. Ibid., The man on the drag-box said to the bugleman, ‘Now!’ 1865 Derby Mercury 1 Mar., A horse-breaker's drag or break. 1885 Manch. Exam. 3 June 5/4 The fine turnout of the Blues in their handsome drag at Hyde Park. |
e. A motor-car.
Criminals' slang.
| 1935 R. T. Hopkins Life & Death at Old Bailey x. 269 When the car thief knocks off a drag (car) from some West End car park. 1947 Sci. News IV. 50 There he was, ready with a ‘drag’ to transport you both at speed. 1960 Observer 25 Dec. 7/6 A stately great drag..with a smart chauffeur at the wheel. |
f. (See
quot. 1954.) Also
attrib., as
drag race,
drag racer,
drag racing,
drag strip.
orig. U.S.| 1954 Amer. Speech XXIX. 95 Drag, a race between two cars to determine which can accelerate faster. The race is over a given distance, with few exceptions a quarter of a mile. Ibid., There are different types of drag racing: (1) drags from a dead stop; (2) drags from a rolling start. Ibid., Drag strip, a straight course used in drag racing, usually an abandoned air strip. 1962 Ibid. XXXVII. 273 An establishment where youthful drivers congregate to plan illegal activities such as highway drag-races. 1964 Guardian 9 Jan. 3/2 An international drag festival is to be held in Britain... Drag racing was first seen in Britain in September when two American cars gave exhibition bouts. 1967 Airfix Mag. June 356/2 Any one of four separate versions can be built from the kit namely a stock, custom, saloon racing, or drag racing car. 1971 Sunday Express (Johannesburg) 28 Mar. 7/1 Gerry..has donated a grandstand for Margo's Rainbow dragstrip. 1971 Capital Times (Madison, Wis.) 15 June 29 The start of a drag race. Ibid., There have been reports of drag racing by youths on country roads. Ibid., The drag racers are gone. |
2. Something used to drag or pull a weight or obstruction.
† a. A hook or the like with which anything is dragged or forcibly pulled.
Obs.| 1483 Cath. Angl. 106/2 A Drag, arpax, luppus, trudes. 1577 Frampton Joyful News i. (1596) 2 It is taken out of the Sea in great peeces with a dragge of Iron. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 78 The executioner prepared dragges and tortures. 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell) 11, Uncus..A drag, or iron hook, to drag traitors after execution about the streets. 1789 G. Vassa Life (1793) 357 Leg-bolts, drags, thumb-screws..instruments of torture. |
b. A
drag-net.
| 1481–90 Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 192 The..netter..had sent..a dragge of viij. fadom. c 1550 Cheke Matt. iv. 18 Peter, and Andrew his broother, casting a drag into y⊇ see. 1611 Bible Hab. i. 15 They catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 214 Casting Nets were spread in shallow Brooks, Drags in the Deep. 1867 F. Francis Angling i. (1880) 13 A drag with a coil of strings is serviceable. |
c. An apparatus for cleaning out and deepening the beds of rivers, etc.; a dredging apparatus; also for collecting oysters from the bed.
| 1611 MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., For mending of the dyche dragg iiij{supd}. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Drague, a drag, or instrument to clear the bottom of rivers and canals; also to catch oysters. 1846 H. Rogers Ess. I. iv. 162 His huge drag had brought up all sorts of fragments of antiquity. |
d. An apparatus for recovering objects from the bottom of rivers or pools;
esp. for recovering the bodies of drowned persons.
| [1577–87 Holinshed Chron. Scot., Malcolme an. 1034 (R.) Howbeit their bodies were afterwards drawne foorth of the loch with drags.] 1797 Monthly Mag. 163 The Lancashire Humane Society..[has] 90 stations..where the sets of apparatus, cases, drags, boards, &c. belonging to the society, are established. 1804 Trans. Soc. Arts XXII. 15 Premium offered by the Society of Arts for a cheap and portable drag..for the purpose of taking up..the bodies of persons who have sunk under water. 1894 Doyle Mem. S. Holmes 109 We had the drags at once, and set to work to recover the remains. |
e. Applied to certain agricultural implements, as a
dung-drag or muck-rake, and an implement with two curving claws for pulling up turnips, etc.
| 1795 Hull Advertiser 6 June 3/3 Striking him on the head with a dung drag. 1848 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. ii. 501 Turnips..are pulled up by a peculiar drag, or ‘hack’, as it is provincially called. 1881 Moore & Masters Epit. Gardening 118 The drag is..a light three-pronged tool,..used for loosening the soil amongst vegetable crops. |
3. Something that drags, or hangs heavily, so as to impede motion.
a. Naut. (see
quot.).
| 1708 Kersey, Drags..whatever hangs over a Ship, or hinders her sailing. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Drags. 1867 in Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. |
b. A drag-anchor (see 9).
| 1874 in Knight Dict. Mech. |
c. A device for retarding the rotation of the wheels of a vehicle when descending a hill;
esp. an iron shoe to receive the wheel and cause friction on the ground.
| 1795 Trans. Soc. Arts XIII. 254 A Drag to prevent the Accidents..to Horses drawing loaded Carts down steep Hills. 1796 T. Twining Trav. Amer. (1894) 63 The wagon descended at a great rate, for..it was not provided with a drag to keep it back. c 1842 Syd. Smith Let. to Ld. J. Russell Wks. 1859 II. 300/1 Gently down hill. Put on the drag. 1863 Mrs. C. Clarke Shaks. Char. vi. 142 The drag that dishonesty claps upon the wheel of their conduct. |
d. fig. A heavy obstruction to progress. Also, an annoyance, a bore; a dull or boring person. (
Cf. quot. 1813 for sense 7 a).
| 1857 A. Mathews Tea-T. Talk I. 106 There's that drag of a husband. 1885 Illustr. Lond. News 9 May 492/2, I find it a drag upon me. 1892 Zangwill Bow Myst. 141 In short, she was a drag on his career. 1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 109 Drag,..difficulté, embarras, partic{supt} une chose qui vous éprouve, vous épuise. 1936 ‘F. O'Connor’ Bones of Contention 157 As sure as God 'tis a drag. 1946 Mezzrow & Wolfe Really Blues viii. 106 They may have been a drag and a headache to their mothers. 1954 L. Armstrong Satchmo viii. 126 Life can be such a drag one minute and a solid sender the next. 1959 C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 42 Old Vern..is such a drip-dry drag that no one would ever take him for the male of the establishment. Ibid. 130 The whole thing was becoming something of a drag. 1968 Listener 29 Feb. 265/2, I know so many people that before they took it [sc. LSD] were such a drag, and when they took it, they really opened up. |
e. A street, road;
esp. in
phr. the main drag.
slang (now chiefly
U.S.).
| 1851 Mayhew London Lab. I. 232/1 French news is generally liked in a fashionable drag. Ibid. 248/2 Another woman..whose husband has got a month for ‘griddling in the main drag’ (singing in the high street). 1905 [see back-gate]. 1914 Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 30 Drag, a main thoroughfare in any community; the main street... ‘The boys are pivoting on the main drag’, i.e. begging on the street. ‘The muffs are cruising on the drag tonight’, i.e. soliciting on the street. 1931 ‘Dean Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 204 Drag, hobo term for the main street of the town, as distinguished from the main stem. 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid xix. 188 If he could find the main drag and jump a bus before the bogies got him, he should be able to make a clean getaway. 1962 K. Orvis Damned & Destroyed v. 38 You didn't just wander in off the drag to buy coffee. 1965 J. P. Carstairs Concrete Kimono ix. 79 We drove through..the main drag of Babaki. |
f. The slow-moving portion of a cattle-herd which is being driven. Hence
drag-driver.
U.S.| a 1861 T. Winthrop John Brent (1883) viii. 71 Relieved from their drags, the herd frisked away with unwieldy gambolling. 1888 T. Roosevelt in Century Mag. Apr. 862/1 The rest [of the men] are in the rear to act as ‘drag-drivers’, and hurry up the phalanx of reluctant weaklings. 1920 J. M. Hunter Trail Drivers of Texas 44, I went up the trail twice, and drove the drag both times. Ibid. 151 All the men were in front of the cattle except myself, the drag driver, and the cook. Ibid. 172 We left the drags together in another herd. 1924 W. M. Raine Troubled Waters x. 101 I'm plumb fed up with the dust of the drag driver. |
g. Feminine attire worn by a man; also, a party or dance attended by men wearing feminine attire; hence
gen., clothes, clothing.
slang.| 1870 Reynolds's Newsp. 29 May 5/5 We shall come in drag. 1870 London Figaro 23 June 3/4 Not quite so low..as going about in ‘drag’. 1887 Referee 24 July 3/1, I don't like to see low coms. in drag parts. 1927 Sunday Express 13 Feb. 5/5 A drag is a rowdy party attended by abnormal men dressed in scanty feminine garments, singing jazz songs in high falsetto voices. 1942 M. McCarthy Company she Keeps (1943) iii. 80 A kind of masquerade of sexuality, like the rubber breasts homosexuals put on for drags. 1959 C. MacInnes Absolute Beginners 27 My Spartan hair-do and my teenage drag and all. 1959 J. Osborne World of Paul Slickey ii. x. 80 You would never have the fag Of dressing up in drag You'd be a woman at the weekend. 1960 20th Cent. Mar. 255 Bad Taste, exemplified by..Henry Kendall in drag. This is by no means the first time that Mr. Kendall has appeared to reverse his sex. 1966 Listener 23 June 918/3 Laurence Olivier, doing his Othello voice and attired painstakingly in Arab drag. 1967 Spectator 14 July 54/1 The gear shops flip their decor as often as they do the pop tunes blaring out the newest hits as you try on the latest ‘drag’. 1968 R. Baker (title) Drag, a history of female impersonation on the stage. |
h. Influence, ‘pull’.
U.S. slang.| 1896 Ade Artie xii. 105 He knows I've got a drag in the precinct. Ibid. xvii. 160 If you've got any drag with him. 1923 Hemingway In our Time (1926) 193 We had a big drag with the waiter because my old man drank whisky and it cost five francs, and that meant a good tip. |
† 4. A person employed to drag in or gather followers.
Obs.| 1663 Heath Chron. (ed. 2) 732 Some young men and apprentices whom his drags had trepanned. |
5. In various technical applications: see
quots.| 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 338 Drag, a thin plate of steel indented on the edge..used in working soft stone. [See 18761 in dragging]. 1864 Webster, Drag..(Founding) The bottom part of a flask;—called also drag-box. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., Drag..The carriage on which a log is dogged in a veneer saw-mill. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss. s.v., The mould having been prepared in the two parts of the flask, the cope is put upon the drag before casting. |
6. Hunting.
a. The line of scent left by a fox, etc.; the trail;
spec. as in
quot. 1888.
| [a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Drag, a Fox's Tail [? read Trail]. So in Phillips, Bailey, Dyche, etc.] 1735 Somerville Chase iii. 47 Hark! on the Drag I hear Their doubtful Notes, preluding to a Cry More nobly full. 1741 Compl. Fam. Piece ii. i. 295 As the Drag or Trail mends, cast off more Dogs that you can confide in. 1858 Ld. Ravensworth Horace Odes i. i, His bloodhounds snuff the drag Of timid hind or antlered stag. 1888 Elworthy W. Som. Word-bk., Drag, in fox-hunting, the line of scent where a fox has been during the previous night, before he is found and started by the pack. |
b. Any strong-smelling thing drawn along the ground, so as to leave a scent for animals;
esp. for hounds to follow, instead of a fox.
| 1841 J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk I. 145 Will advised that his stockings should be well rubbed with oil of aniseed, and the hounds let out to run him as a ‘drag’. 1843 Lever J. Hinton xxi, He was always ready to carry a drag, to stop an earth. 1856 C. J. Andersson Lake Ngami 127 [In trapping hyenas] A ‘drag’ consisting of tainted flesh, or other offal, is trailed from different points..directly up to the ‘toils’. 1888 Elworthy W. Som. Word-bk. 208 A red-herring or a ferret's bed are the commonest drags used. |
c. The hunt or chase with hounds following such a line of scent; a club or association for the prosecution of this sport.
| 1803 W. Taplin Sporting Dict. II. 486 A train scent, (that is, a drag across the country). 1851 Eureka; a sequel to Lord J. Russell's Post Bag 21 The necessity of keeping up the Drag [at Oxford]. 1869 W. Bradwood The O.V.H. v. (Farmer) He subscribed to the drag at Oxford. 1881 Morning Post 29 Sept. 5/5 The hounds..form two packs, one of harriers, the other for drag. |
7. a. The action or fact of dragging; slow, heavy, impeded motion; forcible motion or progress against resistance.
| 1813 W. Beattie Tales 34 (Jam.) Washing's naething but a drag. We hae sae short daylight. 1826 Examiner 559/1 The first stage..was..a miserable drag through mud and holes. 1859 Gullick & Timbs Paint. 112 The ‘drag’ of the brush being evident. 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts I. 989 The strain produced by the ‘drag’ of the bobbin whilst being spun. 1887 in Darwin's Life & Lett. I. 144 He..gave one the impression of working with pleasure, and not with any drag. 1891 Athenæum 26 Dec. 859/1 The book is good and refined; there is no drag about it. |
b. The amount by which anything drags or hangs behind in its motion.
| 1864 Webster, Drag..(Marine Engin.), the difference between the speed of a screw-ship under sail and that of the screw when the ship outruns the screw. |
c. Billiards. Retarded motion given to the cue-ball.
| 1873 Bennett & Cavendish Billiards 194 Drag is put on by striking the ball as low as possible, No 1 strength. |
d. Angling. A dragging motion on a fishing-line; also
concr., a device in a fishing reel.
| 1907 Westm. Gaz. 29 Nov. 3/1 The drag cannot be overcome—where the current fished into is far stronger than the current fished over. 1937 Hemingway To have & have Not i. i. 23, I felt his drag. He had it screwed down tight. You couldn't pull out any line. |
e. Aeronaut. and
Hydrodynamics. The force resisting the motion of a body through a gas or a liquid;
esp. the resistance along the line of flight to the motion of an aircraft, etc.
| 1909 A. Williams Engin. Wonders of World III. 12/1 To prevent the resulting drag slewing the aeroplane round, the warping mechanism is linked up with the rudder. 1918 W. E. Dommett Dict. Aircraft 19 The horizontal component of the air pressure on a wing or aerofoil is known as the drag. 1931 Flight 1 May 384/2 And how little headway have made such conceptions as induced drag, profile drag and span loading. 1935 P. W. F. Mills Elem. Pract. Flying i. 4 The lift and drag forces act upwards and backwards respectively. 1948 Sci. News VII. 25 For an aerofoil it is necessary to introduce also the induced drag, i.e. the part of the total resistance which depends entirely on the lift. 1948 V. L. Streeter Fluid Dynamics iv. 67 Any body passing through a real fluid experiences a resisting force, called drag, which depends upon the form of the body and its surface roughness. 1952 Economist 20 Dec. 852/2 The pilot, when he lifted the nose-wheel of the aircraft off the ground, did so at a sharper angle than usual. The result of this was to give high ‘drag’, that is, to increase the resistance of the air to the passage of the aircraft. 1971 Physics Bull. Mar. 157/2 Perturbations of the orbit of an artificial satellite by the earth's oblateness and atmospheric drag. |
f. slang. An inhalation of (cigarette) smoke; the act of smoking a cigarette. (
Cf. drag v. 1
f.)
| 1914 Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 30 Drag, an inhalation of smoke, tobacco or opium. 1920 F. Scott Fitzgerald This Side of Paradise (1921) i. ii. 58 The ponies took last drags at their cigarettes and slumped into place. 1926 L. H. Nason Chevrons (1927) x. 305 A long drag and a cloud of smoke rolled out into the aisle. 1957 C. MacInnes City of Spades i. v. 28, I lit up, took a deep drag, well down past the throat, holding the smoke in my lungs. 1962 Coast to Coast 1961–62 132 We stopped beside a little trickle of water for ten minutes' break and a drag. |
g. Cricket . Back spin imparted to the ball by the bowler.
| 1920 E. R. Wilson in P. F. Warner Cricket 84 The two other spins which can be put on the ball are what have been called the drag (or back spin) and top spin. 1922 W. W. Armstrong Art of Cricket i. 45 The ball on which drag has been put and which never seems to arrive as soon as it is expected. |
h. A slow type of dance, or the music for this; also (
slang), a dancing party.
U.S.| 1901 Joplin & Hayden (title of song) Sun Flower Slow Drag. 1928 Melody Maker Feb. 178 (Advt.), ‘Rain’ is a slow drag number. Ibid. 179/3 ‘Sugar’, played in a nice drag rhythm. Ibid. 183/2 A fascinating legato drag rhythm. 1952 B. Ulanov Hist. Jazz (1958) x. 115 The cotillion orchestra and polite quartet that accompanied high society drags. Ibid. xviii. 220 The records they made (‘Harlem Fuss’ and ‘Minor Drag’) caused quite a stir. |
i. Mus. A drum-stroke consisting of two or more grace-notes preceding a beat.
| 1927 Melody Maker Aug. 807/2 A rudimentary beat—the open drag. Ibid., You must try this drag rhythm with the stick and the brush. 1931 G. Jacob Orchestral Technique vii. 71 The drag..may contain more than the two preliminary grace-notes (which really amount to an infinitesimally short roll). 1934 E. Little Mod. Rhythmic Drumming 13 The Crush Roll. Known variously as the ‘Crush’, ‘Press’ or ‘Drag’ Roll, this is a ‘fake’ beat which has found its way into drumming for a very good reason... The stick (held fairly loosely) is ‘crushed’ on to the drum head, and allowed to ‘bounce’ a number of times. 1961 J. Prebble Culloden i. 13 The sticks of the Main Guard came down on the skins in the drag and paradiddle of the General. |
8. Criminals' slang.
† a. Robbery of vehicles (
obs.).
b. A term of three months in gaol.
| 1781 G. Parker View Soc. II. 151 Rum Drag. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., The drag, is the game of robbing carts, waggons, or carriages..of trunks, bale-goods, or any other property. Done for a drag, signifies convicted for a robbery of the before-mentioned nature. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 233 (Hoppe) Sometimes they are detected, and get a drag. 1891 Daily News 20 Nov. 6/4 Men who had actually served terms of penal servitude, ‘drags’ or ‘sixes’, as they were called, for their offences. |
9. attrib. and
Comb. (see also 1 f, 3 f, above), as
drag-boat,
drag-cart,
drag-harrow,
drag-horse,
drag-hunt (
cf. drag-hound),
drag-man,
drag-weight;
drag-anchor, see
quot., a drift-anchor;
drag-bar,
-bolt,
-chain,
-hook,
-spring, those by which locomotive engines, tenders, and trucks are connected;
drag-box, (
a) see 1 d,
quot. 1837; (
b) see 5,
quot. 1864;
drag-fold Geol., a small fold in a bed that forms part of a larger fold or a fault;
esp. one with the appearance of having been formed by shearing when stronger or more massive beds on each side of the folded bed moved relative to each other;
drag-line, (
a)
Geol. each of a series of fainter glacial striations forming a fringe on the lee-side of an older set and produced when one glacier crosses the path of another; (
b) an excavator having a bucket which is pulled towards the machine by a wire rope; also, the wire rope itself; also
attrib.;
drag-link (see
quot.);
drag-mill = arrastre;
drag queen slang, a male homosexual transvestite;
cf. queen n. 12;
drag-rake (see
quot.);
drag-saw, a saw in which the effective stroke is given in the pull, not in the thrust;
drag-seine U.S., a haul-ashore seine (
Cent. Dict. 1890
s.v. seine1); hence
drag-seining vbl. n.;
drag-sheet = drag-anchor;
drag-shoe = shoe n. 5 f;
drag strut Aeronaut., a strut designed to strengthen a wing against forces arising from drag;
drag-twist, see
quot.;
drag-washer, in a gun-carriage, a flat iron ring having an iron loop to which the drag-rope is attached. Also
drag-chain, -hook, -hound,
-net, -rope, -staff,
dragsman.
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Drag-anchor, a frame of wood, or of spars clothed with sails, attached to a hawser, and thrown overboard to drag in the water and diminish the lee-way of a vessel when drifting, or to keep the head of a ship to the wind when unmanageable by loss of sails or rudder. |
| 1849–50 Weale Dict. Terms, *Drag-bar, a strong iron rod with eye-holes at each end, connecting a locomotive engine and tender by means of the *drag-bolt and spring. |
| 1891 Daily News 4 Feb. 3/5 Sixteen more [bodies] were recovered by a *drag-boat. |
| 1911 U.S. Geol. Surv. Monogr. lii. v. 123 A common type of fold is a *drag fold.., by which the formation becomes locally buckled along an axis lying in any direction in the plane of bedding. 1937 Geogr. Jrnl. XC. 124 The repeated imbricate faults, shear-plan[e]s, and drag-folds. 1942 M. P. Billings Struct. Geol. xii. 221 The lineation results from the parallel arrangement of the crests of minute drag folds formed by the sliding of different layers over one another. 1965 G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. xix. 342/2 The only folding has been in the form of drag-folds near major faults and gentle compactional folds in the lower Tertiary sediments. |
| 1750 Ellis Mod. Husbandman II. i. 49 They..harrow them in with one single *drag-harrow, as they call it. |
| 1849–50 Weale Dict. Terms, *Drag-hook and chain, the strong chain and hook attached to the front of the engine buffer-bar, to connect it on to any other locomotive engine or tender; also attached to the drag-bars of goods waggons. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Cheval de traict, a *drag-horse, draught-horse, cart-horse, coach-horse. |
| 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour vii. 32 *Drag-hunting..is not popular with sportsmen. |
| 1886 T. C. Chamberlin in 7th Ann. Rep. U.S. Geol. Surv. (1888) 201 It clearly shows the older set by the *drag-lines on their lee sides. 1919 C. G. Raht Romance of Davis Mts. 328 The intake canal was dug with..drag lines. 1922 Glasgow Herald 28 Sept. 7 Drag-line excavators. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 263/2 Drag-line excavator, a mechanical excavating appliance consisting of a steel scoop bucket which is suspended from a movable jib; after biting into the material to be excavated, it is dragged towards the machine by means of a wire rope. 1950 Engineering 17 Nov. 369/1 A drag shovel, a drag line, a grab crane. 1956 Planning XXII. 56 The largest type of draglines, which cost nearly {pstlg}750,000, may remove ore at the rate of up to a million tons a year, depending on the depth. |
| 1849–50 Weale Dict. Terms, *Drag-link, a link for connecting the cranks of two shafts..in marine engines. |
| 1678 Hale Hist. Placit. Cor. xiv. §7 (T.) The great riots, committed by the foresters and Welsh on the *dragmen of Severn, hewing all their boats to pieces. |
| a 1884 Knight Mech. Dict. Suppl. 271/2 *Drag mill, another name for the arrastra. |
| 1941 G. Legman in G. W. Henry Sex Variants II. 1164 *Drag-queen, a professional female impersonator; the term being transferentially used of a male homosexual who frequently..wears women's clothing{ddd}While many innate male homosexuals wear women's underwear..they are not for that reason called drag-queens. 1973 Nation Rev. (Melbourne) 31 Aug. iii. 1453/2 The cowboys and indians theme culminates in the sheriff..doing his drag queen act and becoming his own indian. 1984 Listener 31 May 25/1 He met..the prototype for Terri Dennis—the real-life drag queen being an altogether less arch, more interesting individual. |
| 1760 in N. & Q. (1887) 17 Sept. 226 ‘Great Rakes’..are now come in general use among the farmers, and are called *drag-rakes. 1829 Glover Hist. Derby I. 188 The large drag-rake..for raking after the cart in hay and corn harvest. |
| 1868 Iowa Agric. Soc. Rep. 1867 220 *Drag-saw, for cutting logs into fire-wood. 1893 Spons' Mech. Own Bk. (ed. 4) 355 The log is..brought under a drag-saw. 1945 B. MacDonald Egg & I (1946) i. iii. 50 The drag-saw barked and smoked. |
| 1888 Goode Amer. Fishes 179 The method chiefly practiced by the colonists of New England was that of *drag-seining. |
| 1844 J. Backhouse Narr. Visit to Mauritius & S. Afr. vii. 138 The *drag-shoe is not used on these occasions, lest the wheel should start out of it. |
| 1849–50 Weale Dict. Terms, *Drag-spring, a strong spring placed near the back of the tender. |
| 1935 C. G. Burge Compl. Bk. Aviation 592/2 The main planes would tend to fold back. This is prevented by dividing the space between the front and rear spars in each plane into rectangular panels by means of ‘*drag struts’. 1964 A. C. Kermode Aeroplane Struct. (ed. 2) ix. 171 To prevent the backwards or forwards movement of the wings, the spars in the old-fashioned conventional structure were usually braced together by a system of struts and wires, the struts being called compression or drag struts. |
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., *Drag-twist, a spiral hook at the end of a rod, for cleaning bore-holes. |
| 1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner (ed. 2) 172 When a carriage is dismounted, all the small articles, such as elevating-screws, linch-pins, *drag-washers, cap-squares, &c. must be carefully collected. |
▸
drag king n.after
drag queen n. at Compounds 2
slang (
orig. in gay and lesbian usage) a woman who dresses up as a man; a male impersonator.
| 1972 B. Rodgers Queen's Vernacular 67 Woman masquerading as a man... *Drag king. 1996 Time Out N.Y. 19–26 June 60/3 By mocking male camp like the Village People and Kiss..the drag kings at Casanova capture the same glamour and excitement that the best drag queens create. 2006 Monterey County (Calif.) Herald (Nexis) 12 Mar. [She] had experimented once with a drag-king friend, passing as a man on the street. |