lag

Plural: lags

Noun

• the act of slowing down or falling behind
• the time between one event, process, or period and another
• one of several thin slats of wood forming the sides of a barrel or bucket
• A gap, a delay; an interval created by something not keeping up; a latency.
• Delay; latency.
• One sentenced to transportation for a crime.
• A prisoner, a criminal.
• A period of imprisonment.
• A method of deciding which player is to start. Both players simultaneously strike a cue ball from the baulk line to hit the top cushion and rebound down the table; the player whose ball finishes closest to the baulk cushion wins.
• One who lags; that which comes in last.
• The fag-end; the rump; hence, the lowest class.
• A stave of a cask, drum, etc.; especially (engineering) one of the narrow boards or staves forming the covering of a cylindrical object, such as a boiler, or the cylinder of a carding machine or steam engine.
• A bird, the greylag.

Verb

Verb Forms: lagged, lagging, lags

• To fall or stay behind; to move slowly.
• hang (back) or fall (behind) in movement, progress, development, etc.
• lock up or confine, in or as in a jail
• throw or pitch at a mark, as with coins
• cover with lagging to prevent heat loss
  • "lag pipes"
• To fail to keep up (the pace), to fall behind.
• To cover (for example, pipes) with felt strips or similar material.
• To respond slowly.
• To transport as a punishment for crime.
• To arrest or apprehend.
• To cause to lag; to slacken.

Adj

• Late.
• Last; long-delayed.
• Last made; hence, made of refuse; inferior.

Examples

• He began to LAG in the Scrabble game, unable to find good words with his rack.
• My phone is starting to lag.

Synonyms

dawdle, fall back, fall behind, gaol, immure, imprison, incarcerate, interim, jail, jug, meantime, meanwhile, put away, put behind bars, remand, retardation, slowdown, stave, latency

Related Words

tardy

Anagrams of lag